I’m a big fan of programming/engineering tutorials. They do a much better job than most documentation in that the author can also add their personal experience, which could include common mistakes, troubleshooting, or other weird hurdles that you will likely encounter.
I have also been a fan of writing such tutorials. Everything I do remotely related to technology is documented here. At least it used to be.
Over the last couple of months, my travel schedule has found it very difficult to accommodate my writing schedule. They were always in conflict. My most idle time was probably at airport gates, often sleep-deprived across time zones, hungry across cuisines, and craving a better bed than two chairs.
Anyway, I’m writing two tutorials for tools I have been using recently, which only have a little documentation. Writing these tutorials is bound to help someone in the same boat.
It is also a way of documenting things, often only for myself to come back to in the future. You would be surprised at how many times I end up looking at my old blog posts to figure something out. I know I will forget things, so I write them down. Being helpful to others is an added bonus.