Computer Science for Kids

16. The Written Artifact

Standard: 2‐AP‐19: Document programs in order to make them easier to follow, test, and debug

You sit back and watch the creatures in your 3D world interact, bounce off barriers, advance, and retreat. The Guide also observes, curious to note the parallels between the real world and its 3D model. “It's almost as if the creatures on the screen were alive,” she marvels. “Look at the cat, prowling around! It's rather magical.” You agree, thinking about how you could enhance and expand this virtual world.

“But how does all the code that you wrote make all the images roam around the screen? And how does one line of code build an entire forest background? It's hard to understand,” notes the Guide, puzzled. “Could you write a guide for people to understand how the pieces all fit together?” Looking back through the various pieces of code, you indeed have to think hard and remind yourself about the decisions you had to make to add lines here and there to build the world. “I think some nice documentation would be just the thing,” you say. “I'll write some right away.”

Do Some Research

Good documentation is a critical aspect of software development. Some programmers think that their code is so easy to read and self‐explanatory that that's all you need to understand software. However, the best projects are those characterized by great documentation, also known as docs.

Research projects that have particularly well‐written docs and make notes about why you think ...