Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance, and use.
[citation needed] Documentation is often distributed via websites, software products, and other online applications.
Documentation intended for a general audience should avoid gender-specific terms and cultural biases.
Ideally, technical writers have a background in both the subject matter and also in writing, managing content, and information architecture.
This build document enables future developers and maintainers to come up to speed on the software in a timely manner, and also provides a roadmap to modifying code or searching for bugs.
Examples include the National Counterterrorism Center's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, sex offender registries, and gang databases.
[12] Documentation, as it pertains to the early childhood education field, is "when we notice and value children's ideas, thinking, questions, and theories about the world and then collect traces of their work (drawings, photographs of the children in action, and transcripts of their words) to share with a wider community".
[13] Thus, documentation is a process, used to link the educator's knowledge and learning of the child/children with the families, other collaborators, and even to the children themselves.