Why technical writing is important?
This is my first post and I thought it will be good to discuss the importance of technical writing. This will not only be a post to share what I think about technical writing, but also serve as a reminder for me to continue pursuing technical writing.
Being a software engineer, we are accustomed to writing code as it provides a sense of productivity through building some UI or getting some job done. This often involves learning by reading docs, using online forums to resolve issues we encounter on the go till we get something to work. Depending on the importance of the work, we iterate on the quality of the work, deliver it to the customers, and move on to our next assignment.
In this process of software engineering, we learn several topics often with an incomplete understanding just enough to complete our assignment. This does help us complete the immediate assignment quickly and move on to the next one, however it doesn't build a strong understanding of those topics in the long run. Due to this, even after completing several assignments, we are often left with a feeling of inadequate knowledge in the areas we work on.
Technical writing can help bridge this gap and improve our knowledge as a software engineer in several ways.
Reality check on the depth of understanding: It is very important to know our depth of understanding of topics so that we don't build a fake self-image of knowing a lot of topics when the reality is the other way round. It also helps us prioritize our learning tasks so that we can improve our depth of understanding in the topics we care about.
A way to know gaps in our understanding: Even though sometimes we know that we don't have a good depth of understanding in a topic, we are often not sure what those gaps are. Writing is a good way to discover those gaps.
Writing reinforces our learning and helps remember concepts: Writing forces us to be attentive in the learning process and hence helps us remember the concepts better.
Written document can be revisited in future: Even if we understand a concept well today, we usually forget our understanding as our memory fades and a written document is a good way to revisit our flow of understanding to easily recollect it in the future.
Sharing knowledge can improve the depth of understanding even further: A good way to improve our depth of understanding in a topic is to share the knowledge with others and accept feedback. A written document is a good way for peers to fully understand our point of view and to provide feedback which can help everyone improve the depth of understanding even further.