Documentation-Driven Development Practice

A Documentation-Driven Development Practice is an agile development practice that uses documentation creation as a design tool to clarify thinking, validate assumptions, and accelerate high-quality implementation.

• AKA: DDD Practice, Documentation-First Development, Readme-Driven Development.
• Context:
  • It can typically clarify Design Intent through documentation-driven development practice articulation.
  • It can typically validate API Design via documentation-driven development practice user perspective.
  • It can typically uncover Design Flaws using documentation-driven development practice explanation.
  • It can often accelerate Team Alignment through documentation-driven development practice shared vision.
  • It can often improve Implementation Quality via documentation-driven development practice pre-thinking.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a README Documentation-Driven Development Practice to being a Comprehensive Documentation-Driven Development Practice, depending on its documentation-driven development practice depth.
  • It can range from being a Interface Documentation-Driven Development Practice to being a Full-Stack Documentation-Driven Development Practice, depending on its documentation-driven development practice scope.
  • It can range from being a Informal Documentation-Driven Development Practice to being a Formal Documentation-Driven Development Practice, depending on its documentation-driven development practice structure.
  • It can range from being a Individual Documentation-Driven Development Practice to being a Team Documentation-Driven Development Practice, depending on its documentation-driven development practice collaboration.
  • ...
  • It can accelerate Feature Delivery through documentation-driven development practice clarity.
  • It can enhance Code Quality via documentation-driven development practice design validation.
  • It can multiply Team Understanding using documentation-driven development practice communication.
  • It can amplify Customer Value through documentation-driven development practice user focus.
  • It can increase Development Confidence via documentation-driven development practice early feedback.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • API Documentation-Driven Development Practice, writing OpenAPI specification before implementation.
  • Tutorial Documentation-Driven Development Practice, creating user tutorial to validate user experience.
  • Architecture Documentation-Driven Development Practice, documenting system architecture to identify integration issues.
  • Test Documentation-Driven Development Practice, writing test documentation to clarify acceptance criteria.
  • Example Documentation-Driven Development Practice, creating usage examples to validate API ergonomics.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Code-First Development Practice, which implements before documentation rather than documentation-driven development practice.
  • Post-Hoc Documentation Practice, which documents after implementation rather than documentation-driven development practice.
  • Test-Driven Development Practice, which uses tests rather than documentation-driven development practice.
• See: Agile Development Practice, Design-First Development, Documentation Quality Target, Living Documentation Pattern, API Design, User-Centered Design, Documentation Management Domain.

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