Keep your audience in mind: What are _they_ trying to accomplish? Why on earth would they bother with your software? What are the most common operations they wi

Keep your audience in mind: What are _they_ trying to accomplish? Why on earth would they bother with your software? What are the most common operations they will need to understand? Avoid going into too much detail on dependencies. Just link to the relevant resources there. Do note the major versions of any additional software components required. Organize the documentation into clearly defined sections, like installation steps, examples, and licensing. For contributors, don't assume the developer is familiar with your choice of build tool. At the very least, note the basic command to build your project. Good tests can double as even more examples. Design the tests, and the interface, for the most common use cases. Again, know your audience. The better the design fits the audience's needs, the less documentation is required.