Doesn't the existence of blogs and Q&A sites like Stackoverflow indicate that current approaches to documentation are failing to deliver. I think there's more to the rise of cut & paste development than simply a lack of skill or a lack of time. The volume of state in some software systems is simply too great to put down in a linear document. Indeed the number of branches in state maybe too great to represent in any meaningful way or in any timeframe that's practical.
If you look at a framework like Django. The documentation is generally considered excellent. However now there is simply so much stuff that many complex things get only a cursory treatment. So everybody heads over to SO to find the question that is the closest fit to theirs.
I am not sure what would be better or indeed if there is any solution to this. The framework here layout a multidimensional approach with tutorials to get started and reference to follow up with. However creating documentation systems with that level of complexity is an enormous task and for anything of any quality, an enormous cost.
If you look at a framework like Django. The documentation is generally considered excellent. However now there is simply so much stuff that many complex things get only a cursory treatment. So everybody heads over to SO to find the question that is the closest fit to theirs.
I am not sure what would be better or indeed if there is any solution to this. The framework here layout a multidimensional approach with tutorials to get started and reference to follow up with. However creating documentation systems with that level of complexity is an enormous task and for anything of any quality, an enormous cost.
So what's the answer? I'm not sure there is one.