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Measuring API documentation on the web.

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Title: Measuring API documentation on the web.
Authors: Parnin, Chris, Treude, Christoph
Source: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering. 2011, p25-30. 6p.
Subjects: Software documentation, Electronic data processing documentation, Computer software development, Social media, Blogs, Websites
Abstract: Software development blogs, developer forums and Q&A websites are changing the way software is documented. With these tools, developers can create and communicate knowledge and experiences without relying on a central authority to provide official documentation. Instead, any content created by a developer is just a web search away. To understand whether documentation via social media can replace or augment more traditional forms of documentation, we study the extent to which the methods of one particular API - jQuery - are documented on the Web. We analyze 1,730 search results and show that software development blogs in particular cover 87.9% of the API methods, mainly featuring tutorials and personal experiences about using the methods. Further, this effort is shared by a large group of developers contributing just a few blog posts. Our findings indicate that social media is more than a niche in software documentation, that it can provide high levels of coverage and that it gives readers a chance to engage with authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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  Data: Measuring API documentation on the web.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Parnin%2C+Chris%22">Parnin, Chris</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Treude%2C+Christoph%22">Treude, Christoph</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22ICSE%3A+International+Conference+on+Software+Engineering%22">ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering</searchLink>. 2011, p25-30. 6p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Software+documentation%22">Software documentation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electronic+data+processing+documentation%22">Electronic data processing documentation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+software+development%22">Computer software development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+media%22">Social media</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Blogs%22">Blogs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Websites%22">Websites</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Software development blogs, developer forums and Q&A websites are changing the way software is documented. With these tools, developers can create and communicate knowledge and experiences without relying on a central authority to provide official documentation. Instead, any content created by a developer is just a web search away. To understand whether documentation via social media can replace or augment more traditional forms of documentation, we study the extent to which the methods of one particular API - jQuery - are documented on the Web. We analyze 1,730 search results and show that software development blogs in particular cover 87.9% of the API methods, mainly featuring tutorials and personal experiences about using the methods. Further, this effort is shared by a large group of developers contributing just a few blog posts. Our findings indicate that social media is more than a niche in software documentation, that it can provide high levels of coverage and that it gives readers a chance to engage with authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1145/1984701.1984706
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 6
        StartPage: 25
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Software documentation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Electronic data processing documentation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computer software development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social media
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Blogs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Websites
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Measuring API documentation on the web.
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            NameFull: Parnin, Chris
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            NameFull: Treude, Christoph
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              Text: 2011
              Type: published
              Y: 2011
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            – TitleFull: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering
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