writing project documentation

Topics that will be covered :

—Structuring Reports

—Writing Abstracts
—Referencing Material
—Presenting Data
—Documenting Software
—Commenting Programs
—Writing User Guides

Why to document your project? And why it is important?

—Sometimes, a graduation project is not accompanied with a software, then the documentation would be the evidence of the project.

—Dissemination of ideas and results

—Good work (software for example) could be ruined by a poor report, that doesn’t justify your practical work right.

Writing and Structuring Reports :

—Considerations—What is the purpose of the report?—Best Mark—Work Dissemination—Provide Literature Review—Inspiring others—Fulfill Requirements of your course
—Who is going to read it?
—Examiners, Future Employees, Academics and Experts?
—What do they already know?
—What do you want them to learn, gain, and be influenced?
—Detailed description for students, or go directly to conclusions for experts?
—Try not to write so much detailed, just for the sake of writing
—On the other hand, try not to miss any important information that should support your project.

—Approaches to Writing
—Top-Down Approach

         —Evolutionary Delivery

Note: You can adopt one of them, and you can use both!

—Top-Down Approach
—Use Chapter Breakdown Structure to identify the structure of the report
—Identify all chapter names, sections and sub-sections
—Identifying the contents of each chapter, makes writing much easier
—You concentrate on a certain target in each chapter, and you don’t misdirect to another target
—Helps in time management

—Evolutionary Delivery
—You write separate parts of your reports as the thoughts come by.
—You can re-write these parts as your project proceeds, and your information increase.
—So, each part evolves and matures over a period of time as new ideas immerge.

—These two approaches (Top-Down and Evolutionary Delivery) can be combined by:
—Specifying the chapters, sections and sub-sections heading and contents.
—By, taking the previous point as your road-map, you can start writing these parts, taking into consideration any probability of re-writing that might be needed while the project in progress.

—It is important to take these two considerations into your mind, before starting writing your document. In this case, you will know exactly the type of information you will include in your report.