#apidocumentation — Public Fediverse posts

How do you network in 2026? I have found in-person events to be immensely helpful for staying up to date with industry trends, meeting new people, and strengthening existing relationships. #softwaredevelopment #technicalwriting #APIdocumentation

Ten years ago, this argument might have had some value.

About five years, after the launch of FreeCodeCamp, Udemy, DataCamp, etc. it started to loose relevance. With a little bit of effort, everyone who knew how use a computer and browse the Internet - including Technical Writers and Product Managers - could now learn how to use an API as a client and incorporate it in their own app.

Nowadays, after ChatGPT, after Claude Code, and after AI agents, I think this argument doesn't make any sense.

Since everyone can nowadays make use of a public API and include the services it provides in their own vibe-coding apps, what I think matters the most is for the author to explain pretty well what does an API endpoint serve for, what are its main use cases, and what edge cases, odd behaviors. or integration "gotchas" that the reader should be aware of. This last point is specially important if the reader is just an AI agent acting in the name of an end user.

Besides, we must always remember that API documentation is also part of Product Development. How can people start using your company's APIs if the documents doesn't highlight how people can and should integrate them on their apps/services?

So, yes: In my opinion this stance is totally outdated AND wrong.

"I don’t consider API documentation writing to be technical writing. I know many disagree. I assume they are saying this based on the similarities of the writing styles. It’s not the similarities that matter. It’s the differences.

API Documentation Has a Reliance on the Developer Experience
That doesn’t necessarily mean writing code examples or developing applications, although there is that aspect. It means thinking like a developer.

When a developer reads an API document, the first question is usually not what a parameter means in isolation. The developer wants to know how to use it to accomplish a task."

https://robertdelwood.medium.com/api-documentation-writing-is-not-technical-writing-f630d3778eba

#TechnicalWriting #APIs #APIDocumentation #SoftwareDocumentation #Programming