Posted by NC on 03/01/06 06:39

Shawn Wilson wrote:
>
> I've got a fairly complex LAMP database and website that have grown,
> I'll say, "organically". That is, without much structure or initial
> planning. I'm finding it hard to keep all the different relationships
> straight as I continue to develop it. With that in mind I would like to
> document the project, but I don't have a lot of experience with
> documenting and charting, etc. (I vaguely remember flowcharts and Gantt
> diagrams from a brief programming course). I would also like to do this
> as a visual aid for potential investors.
>
> Could someone point me to a good resource for learning about this kind
> of thing? It's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when googling.
> Also, can anyone recommend the types of documents I should be
> considering and any good programs for making them?

Consider creating three documents:

1. Functional specification -- a document explaining what your
application is supposed to do.

Read "Painless Functional Specifications" by Joel Spolsky:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000036.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000035.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000034.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html

(Yes, in that order...)

2. User's manual -- a document explaining how a user is supposed
to get the application to do what it's supposed to do.

You may want take a look at "User Interface Design for Programmers"
by Joel Spolsky:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000058.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000059.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000060.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000061.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000062.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000063.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000064.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000065.html

3. Developer's manual -- a document explaining what the application's
architecture is, what different pieces of code do, and what the
application's data model is (e.g., what the database tables are used

for and what the fields in those tables store).

Cheers,
NC

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