Documentation as Empathy

Eric Holscher http://www.pyvideo.org/video/3654/documentation-as-empathy https://djangobirthday.com/talks/#documentation-as-empathy This talk will cover my view of documentation within programming culture as it has grown over the years. As a primary person involved with Read the Docs, and Write the Docs, I have seen a lot of angles, and appreciate documentation more every year. I believe better documentation is a fundamental aspect of how we can improve programming culture, and an often misunderstood part of outreach and education. Read the Docs started in Lawrence, and has grown from there. This seems like the perfect venue to wax poetic about why documentation matters, and tell the story of Read the Docs along the way. The Django community is one where documentation has always been valued, and I think that understanding how it lead to its success and why it's an important virtue going forward is important. This talk will make you think more deeply about the social impact of documentation, and hopefully make you question if it should be a higher priority in your development.