Talking about APIs and Maps at STC Summit 2017

I’m excited to be speaking soon at STC Summit 2017, the annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication. The event happens in Washington, DC, on 7-10 May. My presentation is about APIs, maps, developers, and a tech writer’s foray into the world of app development.

The conference theme is “gaining the edge”. So I decided to talk about my experiences developing an app, and why I tried my hand at app development. The app, Tech Comm on a Map, is an interactive web-based map that shows events of interest to technical communicators.

In this presentation, you’ll see some code and understand the nuts and bolts of the app – where the data is stored, how it gets there, how it ends up on a map for everyone to see.

Follow me on a tech writer’s odyssey into app development.
Tread in dangerous territory.
We may even see a dragon or two.
Emerge a little triumphant, and certainly well travelled.

Q: Why does the journey on this map start in Sydney and end up on the east coast of the US?
A: Because that’s the trip I’ll make to give this presentation at STC Summit. 🙂

At this session, you’ll learn the technical details:

• The nuts and bolts of a web-based application like Tech Comm on a Map: where it’s hosted, where the data is stored, the JavaScript code and the APIs that create the map and the app’s functionality.
• How the app’s data is crowd sourced.
• What open sourcing your code means, and why you may want to do it.
• The difference between a web-based application and a mobile app. Tech Comm on a Map is available as a native Android app as well as a webapp.
• The information sources that I used when developing the app.

You’ll also see how such a project can help develop your soft skills:

• My engineering colleagues helped me kick off the development of the app, and made ongoing suggestions for refinement. The resulting interactions increased mutual understanding and respect.
• Fellow technical writers all over the world help compile the data. A project like this is a good way of connecting with your peers.
• Developing an app can help you better understand your subject and your audience of software engineers and other specialists.
• Such a project gives you confidence in your own abilities, even if you’re just skimming the surface of code complexity.

Here’s the session on the STC Summit schedule: A tech writer, a map, and an app.

You can also read more about the app, Tech Comm on a Map.

Designing tutorials – some insights for API documentation

I’ve just published a blog post on the Google Geo Developers Blog, about a new design for the Google Maps API tutorials. I’d love some feedback from technical writers. If you have a few minutes, would you head on over there and let us know what you think?