[OpenLayers-Users] OpenLayers Book

[Christopher Schmidt]

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 08:46:07AM -0800, Chip Taylor wrote:
> I still stick by the statement that good code without good
> documentation is less than the product it should be.  I also realize
> that given the model and the reluctance of programmers to document
> code I doubt the situation will change much. 

The OpenLayers project has a very strict requirement that the API level
of the code *is* documented. Additionally, we maintain a library of more
than 100 examples of code usage, demonstrating many major features of
OpenLayers in ways that are relatively easy to copy and paste for any
JavaScript programmer. You can criticize the documentation effort of the
OpenLayers project, but we make a very strong effort to establish
documentation of the *code itself* -- much more so than many other
projects I've worked with.

Documenting the code -- what it does, and how it does it -- is nt
sufficient to answer all the questions of users, but it is a significant
task, and one that we have put many many resources into, and is a
requirement for any new code in the OpenLayers library. Clearly, is is
not the only aspect of a product, but the project is not in the habit of
creating unmaintainable code, something I'm very proud of, and want to
ensure that we all are clear on.

Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
MetaCarta