[Zope] Documentation vs. Code

Kevin Dangoor kid@kendermedia.com
Mon, 16 Aug 1999 17:52:10 -0400


    IMHO, Digital Creations has gone the right route, thus far, by placing
emphasis on getting the code out the door and not holding things up for the
documentation. In my own self-interests, it has given me the capabilities
that I *need* for the next phase of my site (and for other sites that are
planned). Because of the current learning curve and somewhat hit-or-miss
documentation, Zope is still in a sort of "early adopter" phase, where it
takes a bit of effort, but there are rewards (namely the functionality) for
those that stick with it.

    The main reason, however, that I think DC did the right thing is right
around the corner: the Zope Portal Toolkit and the new zope.org site. I
haven't seen the new site, yet. But I know the kinds of things that are
possible with ZClasses and ZCatalog. (Not just possible, but pretty
straightforward and quick to implement!) Not only does this make for a much
more powerful tool for the early adopters, but it also will create a much
better collaboration environment at zope.org. I have no doubts that people
will come up with great ideas on the how the community can collectively
improve the documentation and make far more information readily available.
(And, it will all be readily searchable, thanks to ZCatalog).

    All of the work that has been leading up to the ZPT has probably slowed
the creation of documentation... but the ZPT itself is a tool that can help
correct the problem.

Kevin