Documentation as a Tool: Introducing Documentation Driven Development

In the dynamic landscape of developer experience, documentation often takes a back seat, relegated to a role of retrospective record-keeping. This talk challenges the status quo by advocating for Documentation-Driven Development (DDD) as a pivotal, proactive force shaping the very essence of developer experience. As a developer who spent years creating abstractions used by other developers, I’ve found that the best time for documentation isn’t after code implementation. In this talk, we explore the continuous nature of documentation, presenting it as an ongoing dialogue rather than a static artifact. Discover how embracing Documentation-Driven Development cultivates a richer, more cohesive, and ultimately more satisfying developer experience. Using a real world example, we explore how an abstraction used everyday by developers in Factorial, was built and is still maintained and improved easily, thanks to DDD.