APIs are used as an integral part of application development by developers and thus the need for quality API documentation is extremely necessary. APIs by developers are considered robust only with quality and accurate documentation, whether being supplied to third parties or being referenced within an organization. In cases, APIs are supplied to the third parties the need for documentation may seem obvious but most API developers do not enjoy the tedious task of documentation. The lack of quality API documentation can be due to many reasons such as:
- Failing to realize its importance
One of the most evident and common reasons is failing to realize that quality documentation can go a long way in determining the success of an otherwise fulfilling API.
- Takes too much of time
API documentation basically serves as an informative reference to let the developers and users get acquainted with the features and functionalities in much detail and sharing such amount of skills and knowledge surely takes in a heavy amount of time to be invested. Nonetheless, documentation at every level is necessary.
- Hard To Write
Surely, putting a whole program and tons of code in words is hard which is why most developers shy away from the tedious process. However, with the right tools and metrics this problems can be somewhat solved.
Why is Important after all?
High quality and detailed API documentation can help developers in more than one way to write efficient and neat code. It provides them with the confidence to integrate the APIs within the code without much hassle whereas a poorly written and drafted API documentation will give the impression of an ill-maintained API.
The documentation, when come to think of it, ensures successful adoption of the API by developers as it relieves all about its capabilities, functionalities along with the license of the software. Also, API Documentation can be successfully used to market your API among potential third parties. Thus, producing a high quality API documentation along with its easy availability is the key to successful marketing strategy.
