Documentation generator

In software development, a documentation generator is an automation technology that generates documentation. A generator is often used to generate API documentation which is generally for programmers or operational documents (such as a manual) for end users. A generator often pulls content from source code or binary files. Some generators, such as Javadoc and Doxygen, use special source code comments to drive content and formatting.

Types of generation

Document generation can be divided in several types:

• Batch generation (generic technique)
• Text block correspondence (documents created based on pre-defined text blocks)
• Forms (forms for websites)
• Documentation synthesis:
  • Documentation can be inferred from code
  • Documentation can be inferred from execution traces

Some integrated development environments provide interactive access to documentation, code metadata, etc.

See also

• Comparison of documentation generators
• Template processor
• Static code analysis
• Literate programming
• Integrated development environment