The quality of API documentation is a key differentiator for API providers, and it directly impacts both API adoption and satisfaction. To be competitive, your API documentation has to be good. But what does that really mean?
Producing excellent API documentation is easier said than done. Given the demands of the modern workplace, it’s difficult for product teams to evaluate how well their documentation measures up, to understand and appreciate what truly excellent documentation is, and how to create it.
Until now.
Today, we’re releasing a new article in our library, The Ideal API Reference.
We hope this article can help our community of technical writers in the software industry educate product teams about what an excellent API reference is, and in the process, help establish a lexicon for discussing how to achieve excellence in the context of API reference materials.
This work was a collaborative effort and incorporates ideas and perspectives from many of Expert Support’s all-star team of technical writers. The effort was led by Expert Support’s co-founder, Jan Clayton. Jan has written, read, and fixed more documentation about more software APIs than almost anyone. Thanks to Jan and the contributors for taking on the challenge of answering the question, “What does it mean to have an ideal API reference?”
As always, we’re very interested in your ideas and feedback on this article. Does this article capture what a truly excellent API reference is? We think it does, but we’d love to get your perspective. Please let us know if and how you use the ideas presented here, and what impact they have on your own API reference efforts.
And of course, if you need help creating or improving your documentation, please let us know here.
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