API Design for C++

Chapter 9

Documentation

Publisher Summary

This chapter describes documentation, which is a critical element of the API. It covers some of the reasons to care about documentation and then describes the various types of documentation that are provided along with several tools that can be used to aid the task of writing documentation. One of the easiest ways to document the API is to use a tool that automatically extracts comments from header files and builds API documentation. One of the most popular and full-featured of these tools is Doxygen, from Dimitri van Heesch. Professionally written documentation is an equally important component of delivering high-quality world-class APIs. In fact, good documentation can make the difference between a user ...