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Archive / INF Seminars / INF_2024_10_16_MathieuNassif

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	On-Demand Documentation via Code Examples

Thursday

17.10

USI East Campus, Room D1.13

16:30 - 17:30


	Mathieu Nassif McGill University

Abstract: Documentation is an essential part of effective software development, but creating high-quality documents is a complex challenge. Beyond the extent and accuracy of a document’s content, the organization and presentation of the information play an important role in helping readers gain the knowledge they need from a document. While many techniques exist that can generate more documentation content than anyone can read, it is important to also study and improve the user interface of documents to ensure that developers can benefit from their content. In this talk, I will present three directions to improve the interaction between developers and documents. First, I will present the extraction of abstract concepts to help developers identify and address gaps in their background before reading documents that may require technical knowledge. Second, I will discuss variations in the design of API tutorials created by professionals, to explore the design space and the impact of different decisions when creating documents for various audiences. Finally, I will introduce Casdoc, a novel documentation presentation format for API tutorials focused on code examples. I will also present the results of two studies with Casdoc that revealed recurrent navigation patterns, which can inform design guidelines for the presentation of developer documentation.

Biography: Mathiew Nassif completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science at McGill University, under the supervision of Prof. Martin P. Robillard in the Software Technology Lab. His thesis focused on the presentation of software documentation, particularly API usage tutorials. Part of his work included the development of Casdoc, a documentation format oriented around code examples. Casdoc documents are available online. Mr Nassif received a M.Sc. in Computer Science from McGill University in 2018. HIs thesis explored a flexible approach to embed documentation directly in source code to reduce the redundancy of information in software systems while improving documentation quality. He received a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Université de Montréal in 2016.