---
title: "Review of Andrew Etter’s ebook on Modern Technical Writing"
date: 2016-07-26
description: "Background Contributors and lightweight markup languages Static site generators Websites instead of PDF Version control systems <a href="
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2016/07/26/modern-technical-writing-review/
---
# Review of Andrew Etter’s ebook on Modern Technical Writing
> In Modern Technical Writing: An Introduction to Software Documentation, which is an e-book you can read on your Kindle, Andrew Etter argues for a model of technical writing that involves lightweight markup languages (like AsciiDoc and Markdown), static site generators (such as Sphinx), distributed version control systems (like Git or Bitbucket), constantly iterating/updating doc content on your website based on analytics, and more. Etter's book resonated with me because it articulates so many of the principles I've felt about how documentation should be.

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## Background

Recently to try to get better sleep, I switched from reading my iPhone at night to a Kindle E-reader. It turns out I really like reading from the Kindle E-reader, so much that I actually bought two of them (the Paperwhite and the Voyager). Reading from the Kindle feels more offline, so I can get immersed more fully in the content, rather than flipping back and forth between email, Reddit, Twitter, or other sites.