<s>
An	O
API	B-Application
writer	I-Application
is	O
a	O
technical	O
writer	O
who	O
writes	O
documents	O
that	O
describe	O
an	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
API	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
API	B-Application
is	O
a	O
library	B-Library
consisting	O
of	O
interfaces	O
,	O
functions	O
,	O
classes	O
,	O
structures	O
,	O
enumerations	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
for	O
building	O
a	O
software	B-Application
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
used	O
by	O
developers	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
and	O
extend	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
API	B-Application
for	O
a	O
given	O
programming	B-General_Concept
language	O
or	O
system	O
may	O
consist	O
of	O
system-defined	O
and	O
user-defined	O
constructs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hence	O
,	O
the	O
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
play	O
a	O
key	O
role	O
in	O
building	O
software	B-Application
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
technical	O
subject	O
matter	O
,	O
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
must	O
understand	O
application	O
source	O
code	O
enough	O
to	O
extract	O
the	O
information	O
that	O
API	B-Application
documents	O
require	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
often	O
use	O
tooling	O
that	O
extracts	O
software	B-Application
documentation	O
placed	O
by	O
programmers	O
in	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
in	O
a	O
structured	O
manner	O
,	O
preserving	O
the	O
relationships	O
between	O
the	O
comments	O
and	O
the	O
programming	B-General_Concept
constructs	O
they	O
document	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
must	O
also	O
understand	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
product	O
and	O
document	O
the	O
new	O
features	O
or	O
changes	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
software	B-Application
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
schedule	O
of	O
software	B-Application
releases	O
varies	O
from	O
organization	O
to	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
need	O
to	O
understand	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
life	O
cycle	O
well	O
and	O
integrate	O
themselves	O
into	O
the	O
systems	B-General_Concept
development	I-General_Concept
life	I-General_Concept
cycle	I-General_Concept
(	O
SDLC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
generally	O
follow	O
The	O
Chicago	O
Manual	O
of	O
Style	O
for	O
grammar	O
and	O
punctuation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
typically	O
possess	O
a	O
mix	O
of	O
programming	B-General_Concept
and	O
language	O
skills	O
;	O
many	O
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
have	O
backgrounds	O
in	O
programming	B-General_Concept
or	O
technical	O
writing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Expert	O
API/software	O
development	O
kit	O
(	O
SDK	O
)	O
writers	O
can	O
easily	O
become	O
programming	B-General_Concept
writers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
API	B-Application
writing	O
process	O
is	O
typically	O
split	O
between	O
analyzing	O
and	O
understanding	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
planning	O
,	O
writing	O
,	O
and	O
reviewing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
effective	O
API	B-Application
documents	O
are	O
written	O
by	O
those	O
who	O
are	O
adequately	O
capable	O
of	O
understanding	O
the	O
workings	O
of	O
a	O
particular	O
application	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
they	O
can	O
relate	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
to	O
the	O
users	O
or	O
the	O
various	O
component	O
constructs	O
to	O
the	O
overall	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
may	O
also	O
be	O
responsible	O
for	O
authoring	O
end-user	O
product	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
reference	O
documentation	O
may	O
be	O
auto-generated	O
to	O
ensure	O
completeness	O
,	O
documentation	O
that	O
helps	O
developers	O
get	O
started	O
should	O
be	O
written	O
by	O
a	O
professional	O
API	B-Application
writer	I-Application
and	O
reviewed	O
by	O
subject	O
matter	O
experts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-Application
writers	I-Application
produce	O
documents	O
that	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
