Tech Elevator: Implementing a documentation linter
Tech Elevator is an intensive in-person and online education provider helping individuals and companies acquire in-demand technology skills for the modern workforce.
Project duration
October 2020 - March 2021
Product overview
Tech Elevator is a full-stack software development bootcamp based in Cleveland, Ohio. They offer full and part-time bootcamps and teach students from diverse backgrounds to become software developers. Their career-readiness program, Pathway Program™, is nationally recognized.
At the time, students could choose to learn Java or C#. Currently, the program only offers Java. The bootcamp covers:
- Programming foundationals
- Backend development
- Web programming
- Full-stack development project
Project description
As the sole technical writer for the curriculum team, I was responsible for editing our technical curriculum before we delivered it to our students. Sometimes, I would receive drafts that had major style and grammar issues. As a result, it would take longer to complete my edits.
To solve this issue, I decided to implement Vale, a popular linter for writing. Vale helps you maintain a consistent and on-brand voice by allowing you to create your own custom rules, or you can use some pre-defined rules based on popular style guides.
I implemented rules based on the Google Developer Documentation Style Guide and taught the developers I worked with how to use the linter in Visual Studio Code. As the developers worked on their drafts, Vale would report any major errors that needed to be fixed before they submitted drafts to me for review. Many of the developers I worked with responded positively to the linter and found it useful during the drafting process.
After I implemented the linter, I received drafts with fewer grammar and style issues, which allowed me to focus on other areas, like accurate code samples and larger structural revisions.
Work samples
Tech Elevator’s curriculum is hosted in a private repository, so I cannot share links here. I can, however, share links to blog posts that I wrote about Vale: