Documentation Hierarchy Structure

A Documentation Hierarchy Structure is a hierarchical organization structure that arranges documentation assets in purpose-based directories with clear parent-child relationships and semantic categorization.

• AKA: Documentation Directory Structure, Folder Structure, Hierarchical Documentation Organization, Documentation Folder Hierarchy.
• Context:
  • It can typically organize Configuration Documentation through /config/ directory placement.
  • It can typically structure Guide Documentation through /docs/guides/ hierarchy.
  • It can typically arrange Reference Documentation through /docs/reference/ organization.
  • It can typically position Standard Documentation through /docs/standards/ location.
  • It can typically place Archive Documentation through /docs/archive/ structure.
  • It can often facilitate Documentation Discovery through intuitive path naming.
  • It can often support Documentation Navigation through logical hierarchy traversal.
  • It can often enable Documentation Maintenance through clear ownership boundarys.
  • It can often improve Documentation Scalability through extensible structure design.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Shallow Documentation Hierarchy Structure to being a Deep Documentation Hierarchy Structure, depending on its nesting level.
  • It can range from being a Simple Documentation Hierarchy Structure to being a Complex Documentation Hierarchy Structure, depending on its branch factor.
  • It can range from being a Static Documentation Hierarchy Structure to being a Dynamic Documentation Hierarchy Structure, depending on its evolution capability.
  • It can range from being a Rigid Documentation Hierarchy Structure to being a Flexible Documentation Hierarchy Structure, depending on its adaptation tolerance.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Standard Project Documentation Structure, with:
    • /README.md for project overview
    • /docs/guides/ for how-to documentation
    • /docs/reference/ for API documentation
    • /docs/standards/ for coding standards
    • /docs/archive/ for historical documentation
  • Microservice Documentation Structure, with /services/service-name/docs/ pattern.
  • Monorepo Documentation Structure, with /packages/package-name/docs/ organization.
  • Wiki-Style Documentation Structure, with category-based page hierarchy.
  • Sphinx Documentation Structure, with source/ and build/ separation.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Flat Documentation Organization, which lacks hierarchical structure.
  • Random Documentation Placement, which lacks systematic organization.
  • Single-Folder Documentation, which lacks categorical separation.
  • Tag-Only Documentation Organization, which lacks directory hierarchy.
• See: Documentation Organization Structure, Information Architecture, Directory Structure Pattern, File System Organization, Documentation Management System, Content Organization Pattern, Documentation as Architecture Framework.

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