Have you ever been excited to use open source software or contribute to the codebase only to hit a brick wall of confusion because the instructions are unclear? It's frustrating, right?
But what if there was a way to tear down those walls and build bridges of understanding instead? That's where the documentation comes in.
Maybe I’m biased because I spent ten years teaching college English before coming into tech. Or maybe it’s because I’ve seen projects fail because of poor documentation. Whatever the reason, I believe that documentation plays a huge role in the success and growth of an open source project. Effective documentation empowers developers to understand and utilize the project as well as fosters adoption, creates user satisfaction, and allows for a more seamless collaboration within the community. In order to ensure that happens, we need to understand the significance of documentation in open source along with best practices for creating comprehensive and accessible documentation.