Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!qucdn!spraggej
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Wednesday, 10 Apr 1991 14:58:07 EDT
From: John G. Spragge <SPRAGGEJ@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Message-ID: <91100.145807SPRAGGEJ@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Re: Borland flaming
References:  <memo.898989@lynx.northeastern.edu>

In article <memo.898989@lynx.northeastern.edu>, cschmidt@lynx.northeastern.edu
says:
>
>The most effective thing Borland could do to improve their image among
>professional programmers would be to improve their documentation,
>since their compilers are already pretty good.  At the very least,
>Borland should provide complete revision details with product
>upgrades.  If they want respect from professional programmers, they
>should show respect for us by providing smart documentation written
>for grownups.

Grown-ups should be aware of how difficult it is to write good
documentation. Grown-ups should be aware that the manual that looks
like a model of simplicity and clarity to them may be incomprehensible
to someone else. Generally, a manual is "good" if you understand it,
and "bad" if you don't.

In other words, flame manuals only with extreme care! A manual is a
set of compromises: no documentation can satisfy everyone. Only in
cases of the most extreme ineptitude is a flame justified; and I
have yet to see Borland's documentation deserve flames.