Talk:API writer

This article was copy edited by a member of the Guild of Copy Editors.Guild of Copy EditorsWikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsTemplate:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsGuild of Copy Editors articles

Computing: Software Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Computing, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of computers, computing, and information technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ComputingWikipedia:WikiProject ComputingTemplate:WikiProject ComputingComputing articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Software (assessed as Low-importance).

Ideas

I would express some of the ideas on this page a little differently. In particular, I would provide a crisper definition. Here is my draft of a definition:

An API (application programming interface) is the means by which a computer program makes its facilities available to other computer programs. Using an API requires an agreed upon means of communication between the program providing its facilities and any program using those facilities. The communication can be loosely coupled, as in message passing interfaces, or tied to a specific programming language.

The API can take the form of a library, or it can consist of classes or interfaces.

Technical communicators who specialize in writing for an audience of programmers frequently document APIs.

I'm not sure that the term "API writer" is in general use, especially as distinguished, as it is on this page, from the term "programming writer."

Xrm (talk) 05:30, 10 December 2008 (UTC)Richard Mateosian[reply]

Merging with technical writing and technical writer

There are already two pages on technical writing, and I believe that all three should be merged together. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alastairdent (talk • contribs) 15:11, 6 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have worked with the official title "API Writer" and this article describes exactly what I did. The language is accurate. Adding or linking to the technical writer page makes sense. Deleting it altogether does not.

Calling an API writer a technical writer is like calling a Cheetah "cat." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.139.23.114 (talk) 19:51, 7 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm. I've worked as a 'technical author' for some years. 'API writer', 'Software documentation author', 'Online help author', 'Procedures writer' are all subsets of 'technical writer'. To borrow your analogy, it is more like saying that there are tabby cats, tortoiseshell cats, white cats, etc. They are all cats. Hence I think the topics should be merged, as each sub-type of technical author, IMO, doesn't merit its own entry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alastairdent (talk • contribs) 11:21, 8 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think there is sufficient substantive content in each discipline to merit individual, linked articles describing technical writing in each capacity. To justify having this API writer page, we may consider generalizing it to technical writing concerned with computer software (two major categories being the API or developer documentation on the one hand, and end-user documentation on the other. Paulmnguyen (talk) 05:04, 21 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Inline citations

This article still needs some work in regard to its inline citations. MezzoMezzo (talk) 20:19, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 September 2023 and 15 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: NImbohippo.

— Assignment last updated by Savmanbanans (talk) 17:29, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]