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copied!<p>I found companies generally either:</p> <ol> <li><p>Don't do specs.</p></li> <li><p>Have a spec template. Each spec looks like all the others (ie "standard") - they all have the same sections.</p></li> </ol> <p>I don't like either. Each spec is different. Trying to make it fit a rigid template is like writing a book to a template - a children's book is different to an adults book is different to a cooking book is different to a ....</p> <p>Some specs need to go into technical details (like file formats), but others are fine when presented from the users point of view (a button that when clicked does x).</p> <p>The best specs I've seen are ones that I can take and do what it is without having to ask the spec writer any questions. If I have to ask questions then I consider the spec to have failed. The spec should answer all my questions.</p> <p>When I'm writing a spec, I always print it out and read it (I find more errors when it is printed). Then I leave it for a day and read it again. If I find any errors or think of anything it's missed I update the spec, print it out and read it and leave it for a day. I keep doing that until I don't find anything wrong with it.</p> <p>A spec should be easy to read. I was once handed a 120 page spec with no table of contents and no page numbers. I asked the spec writer to put in a table of contents and her answer was "no, I want people to read through the spec to find what they're looking for since then they'll read more of it". I wasted a lot of time looking through that spec looking for stuff. That was a bad spec.</p> <p>Whatever method you use to write the spec doesn't matter - the outcome is the important thing. The spec should be easy to read and answer all questions.</p>

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