Documentation has a bad reputation. It is hard to find the motivation to write it, it's a nuisance to maintain, and our exposure to it over the years has convinced us that it is one of the driest and dullest methods of knowledge transfer. It doesn't have to be this way, though!

If we choose to focus entirely on the users, then our documentation can be simple and pleasant. To do this, we must first consider who the users of our documentation are. What do they want? Every user, whether a GUI end user or a fellow programmer, begins the journey of using our software with a task in mind. It's our duty, both within the software and through its documentation, to enable them to perform their task with as little pain and confusion as possible. With this in mind, in this chapter we'll explore what it might mean for us to construct such pain-free documentation. We'll specifically be covering the following:

• Aspects of clean documentation
• Documentation is everywhere
• Writing for non-technical audiences