Documentation Is the Only Salvation from All the Frustration (Yes, the “tion” Matching Was Intentional)

[This content was initially published on the DEV.to community platform, retaining the same title.]

Unfortunately, no “quick recap” today. It would be better if you could read what’s inside.

Have you ever related to that meme - “when I wrote the code, Only I and God understood. Now only God knows.”?

Or maybe, back when you were a student:

• You submitted your web app assignment.

• The professor had to dig through the source code just to understand what you built.

• You added a PDF. But it was too long.

• And you seriously doubt the professor will actually read it.

All the cool stuff you did might just go unnoticed.

Or maybe you are a freelancer web developer, and for every project, you have to:

• Explain the project features, use cases, dataflows to clients.

• Explain deployment or further development processes.

• Explain how to maintain or test the code.

• Explain the stack of the project.

Or maybe as a junior dev:

• You have no idea what the goal of the feature you are building is.

• You’re unsure of the scope or upcoming roadmap.

• You don’t understand the development or deployment processes.

• You don’t even know who the end users are.

• You just don’t know the whole picture...

So, you:

• Have a hard time finding motivation to go to work.

• Feel like an outsider to your own team, as you don’t know the whole picture.

• Can’t voice your ideas cause you don’t know the whole picture.

• Can’t be a help at crucial situations cause you don’t know the whole picture.

And as a PM or TL, it’s even worse:

• You’re overloaded with work.

• The entire project depends on your brain.

• Can’t encourage brainstorming or idea-sharing as no-one has the complete idea of the project.

• Team alignment is a myth.

• Miscommunication is constant.

• Bug-filled features get pushed because there’s no release checklist.

• New devs struggle because there’s no development or deployment guide.

And just when you think it couldn’t get worse:

• The new intern asks how to set up the project.

• The other intern pushes directly to main·

• QA calls the frontend team, apparently, one user is getting another user’s notification.·

• Your CTO calls because he can’t find the project stack.

So yes, my friend, “Documentation is the only salvation.”

Since the beginning of civilization, people have written down their ideas, inventions, rules, systems, thoughts, architectures - everything so they would not forget, things would not be lost, and it could be passed on.

But as a student or junior dev, for documentation, you either:

• Don’t have the time.

• Don’t know where to start.

• Or don’t know what to include.

And as a PM or TL, the situation needs just one sentence to explain: “You have no time.”

The scenarios I mentioned, I have faced every single one of them. And it was pure frustration.

I searched for technical doc templates so that I could at least have something rather than start from nothing. But all I found were PDFs of product requirement docs. Nothing useful for real-world, developer-focused work.

So, I took matters into my own hands. I built some documentation templates that I could reuse across all my projects, both personal and professional. And life got a little easier.

Then it hit me… maybe others could benefit from them too.

So, I turned them into a kit - pre-filled, Markdown-based, structured for both tech and non-tech teams. Something that will help avoid “blank-page anxiety”.

Now, I originally made it for professionals like startups, SaaS founders, freelancers, who need to make documentation easier and faster, because it’s a real part of their workflow.

But if you’re a student, or someone who just started your first dev job, I think it’s worth building the habit of documenting early. It might help you in the long run.
That’s why I’ve included a few templates for free. Use them, remix them, reuse them, make them your own. I’ll be genuinely happy if they help.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Project Overview - A short description of the project, core tech stack, modules, project structure, and a brief note on security.

• Feature Breakdown - A table for listing features by user types, status (done/in progress/wishlist), and what’s upcoming.

• Permission - User roles and access control matrix to define how permissions work across the app.

Even maintaining just these three docs will give you or anyone else a clear picture of your project. You can include them when sharing your code or portfolio, so no one will have to dig through your source code to understand what’s going on. I believe this is a great start. Free Docs Link

And if you are a professional reading this, and these markdown templates could save your time, feel free to check them out– Check out the full kit (Gumroad link)

Of course, You can use the free docs too. I won’t mind.

Every software we build, even just a small feature - is our brainchild.

We should keep them documented.

Not just to remember the ”project overviews” or “user types”. But as a milestone*… a little badge of how far we’ve come.*

Let’s keep our brainchildren well documented.

Anyway, that’s it for today. Till next time. Adios!