[azdavis]

I didn’t realize that “docs like code” was a noun phrase and was trying to figure out how docs can be liking code that is in basic terms.

[dcminter]

Even without that particular misunderstanding I found it very hard to initially parse what this was actually about; I'm skeptical that a naïve non-technical person will be able to work out what it's banging on about. Maybe they're expected to arrive from some other origin with a bit more context?

To me "Docs like code" conjures up documentation that looks like code, so I think something like "The basics of using programmers' tools to create documentation" would be clearer.

[DeborahWrites]

Thanks for pointing this out. The post starts from the assumption that people have at least heard of "docs like code", because it's a widely-used term/practice in tech writing. So I was aiming at tech writers who heard the term, but lacked the knowledge to use the technique (original draft of the post was in response to a less technical tech writer asking me a ton of questions)

But perhaps I need to explain this up top, rather than hoping people will hang in there until the explanatory section.

[lproven]

> it's a widely-used term/practice in tech writing

But it's not. You have got the key phrase wrong!

It's Docs as Code.

There are whole websites devoted to it:

https://docsascode.org/

Not "like": As -- meaning, "create docs as you create code", meaning "using the same tools and methods."

There is a good strong evidence that your version is inferior: the dozens of comments in this thread by people baffled by the phrase, or pointing out its flawed construction.

It's the Docs As Code approach, _NOT_ "docs like code".

https://docascod.github.io/howto/#/

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rafaelmn...

https://www.synesthesia.co.uk/tag/docsascode/

[MathMonkeyMan]

time flies like an arrow

[3dprintscanner]

And fruit flies like a banana

[kazinator]

docs is plural. You can't have a plural in a noun phrase, other than in he head position.

For instance

OK, no plurals: law school entrance test

OK, head plural: law school entrance tests

?? non-head plural: law school entrances test

[HumanOstrich]

Interesting. Can you provide some source(s) for this rule?

[simonw]

"Docs" is short for "documentation", not "documentations".

[jstanley]

"law schools enter test"