Imperatives of Documentation in Mobile App Development

Mobile App development projects can be quite complex, which is why they should be supported with proper documentation, right from pre-development to delivery, and even during ongoing improvement phases.

Documentation involves details of presentation process related to capability and purpose of the app, design planning, technical specification, project improvement strategies, etc. It also involves documenting the Minutes-of-Meeting, which includes information on verbal discussion among the development team members.

Small project documentations are helpful

Developers generally refrain from small project documentation, but how can you quantify small. These small projects sometimes develop into larger ones. They can be reused as features or components or can act as reference to other app development projects.

These developers’ documentation is of great help at times. You can easily pull out critical information related source code, general outline, interface API definitions, flow of control, parameters, and the return values. Such data can be very useful for high level decision making, which makes it easy to take the next call.

Documentation helps during configuration of new devices

If all pre-requisites, dependencies, firewall settings, and network configurations of a system are well-documented, then installation and configuration of a new device can be handled by the system administrator. Thus, time and energy is saved.

Gets new person on board on the Same Page

Documentation helps a new comer to learn about the ongoing project, and start working smoothly without any trouble. In case, the mobile app development team is distributed geographically, then documentation helps a lot. Being on the same page across different location is quicker and no one is confused about the project. Thus, betters the management of app development in different phases.

Storing documentation using Microsoft

App development team use Microsoft tools to create, store, share and review documentation. They make changes as and when needed on the shared document to keep the team members updated.

Allows working on multiple applications

Majority of app developers work on multiple mobile app development projects, simultaneously. Documentation allows them to keep track different aspects of each app. This information about development and maintenance of a specific app can be shared with other developer.

Valuable mobile app development areas that need developer’s documentation

Developer’s documentation needs to be focused on various components that make an application framework.

Server environment

It is always good to have detailed recording of an app and its environment. The availability of this information is very useful, while setting new environment of an existing app or/and maintaining it for development and testing.

All the information needs to be recorded, like the app name, version, IP, server name, actual server location, code directory pathway, URL to access the app, OS, point of contact and user account information.

Business rules

Documenting business rules is helpful for app developers. They get to learn how the app works and why it works that way. The developers can go through the documents before commencing the mobile app development project.

Details provided can help app developers to speed up their learning curves. Besides business rules, FAQs, Help document or user guide help to highlight an app’s main features, so that developers can design a framework that will support it.

Database/files

If database has to be included in the app framework, it is necessary to be acquainted with the kind of database, server information, and version along with data model diagram. Apps can also have ETL tasks that export or import data from sources, which are not easily acknowledged.

For including file transfer feature in an app, it is good to have record of the server app sent and received files, user account details and SSL certificates. These processes can be recorded to help, whilst maintenance and development of the app.

Troubleshooting

Developer’s documentation of mobile app development also helps during the troubleshooting of any production issue. FAQ document helps to speed up the resolving of data issues by referring to the previously identified workarounds or solutions.

Technical problems have error codes, which help to troubleshoot issues whenever they arise, but there is a requirement of additional inputs for resolving data errors. This knowledge can be gained overtime while working on an app, but documentation can speed up the troubleshooting process, especially for new developers who have joined the ongoing project midway.

App installation

Documents of installation and configuration are valuable, when the app developers need to update the existing application. Detailed steps will be easy to follow, if necessary include screenshots.

Anyone will be able to adhere to these steps for efficiently installing the specific application. With better understanding of steps, app installation issues get eliminated. Details like required software, app server version and libraries need to be included. It ensures to build a compatible environment for a successful setup.

Code deployment

Many businesses have their patent deployment processes for app release and code updates. It is critical to have these deployment-information recorded including the code repository, location of file updates and where to move them.

The above components must be documented properly during the mobile app development process. It can be stored in a shared portal for ease of access and version control. For making the app more useful, modifications are made or new processes added on the document.

Developers at Fast Conversion request their customers to provide then with documentation, which helps them to speed up the new app development project. Although it needs effort and time, but developer’s code documentation is very helpful in the future.

If you are in quest of a dependable mobile app development company, your search has reached its destination. We are the emerging leaders in the industry with years of experience. Please contact us at sales@fastconversion.com and skype us (fastconversion.com) for quick support.