Introduction to Programming for Technical Writers

This 1-day in-depth seminar is designed to vastly improve your ability to write documents involving software code and programming. This course teaches the fundamentals of software structure, program design and coding, including:

  • The ABCs of computer software and programming
  • Getting inside the computer’s architecture and operating systems
  • Software architecture (macroscopic)
  • Program design and structure
  • Basic programming constructs
  • Program implementation (programming/coding)
  • Using IDEs, compilers and linkers
  • Source code vs. object code, libraries and executables
  • SDKs and APIs
  • Hands-on programming experience

Learn how software applications work so you can write professional looking programming documentation the way the subject matter experts want to see it. Gaining a deeper insight into the way software works will also help you in general to understand your company's products faster and better. You will also become more proficient in using the exact nuances of the software industry, aiding you in consistently producing documentation with the look and feel of being written by the experts.

Topics include:

  • What exactly is a program; fundamental program structure
  • Different types and levels of software programming languages, pseudo code
  • Getting started: Writing a basic routine using Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Adding some advanced features: Data Types and a GUI
  • Debugging and running programs using an IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
  • Programming constructs: statements, variables, functions, conditions, loops, data types, I/O
  • Traditional (structured) programming vs Object oriented programming
  • Classes and objects
  • Real-time and embedded system programming
  • Hardware and software interrupts and events
  • Designing and documenting an SDK
  • Networks and the OSI model (Open Systems Interconnection "7-Layer" Model)
For a more detailed explanation of what is included in the course, please write to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

About the Instructor

Avraham Makeler is a software engineer come technical writer and has been writing highly complex software and programmer-oriented documentation for many years. Avraham's inside knowledge of computers and software together with many years of technical writing help him see what writers need to know to about programming to help them become more fluent in their work environments. Avraham teaches a variety of programming-related seminars at WritePoint.