{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:43:58Z","timestamp":1760060638294,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,9]],"date-time":"2025-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757376000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Computers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Persistent challenges in software documentation, particularly limitations in generality, simplicity, and efficiency of existing models, impede effective software development. To address these, this research proposes a novel phase-based and holistic software documentation model (PDA-SDD). This model was subsequently evaluated using a digital questionnaire distributed to 150 software development and documentation experts, achieving a 48% response rate (n = 72). The evaluation focused on assessing the proposed model\u2019s generality, simplicity, and efficiency. Findings indicate that while certain sub-models (e.g., SRSD, RLD) were positively received across all criteria and the overall model demonstrated strong perceived generality and efficiency in specific aspects, areas for improvement were identified, particularly regarding terminological consistency and user-friendliness. This study contributes to the understanding of the complexities in achieving a universally effective software documentation model and highlights key considerations for future research and development in this critical area of software engineering.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/computers14090378","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,9]],"date-time":"2025-09-09T12:15:17Z","timestamp":1757420117000},"page":"378","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Pre-During-After Software Development Documentation (PDA-SDD): A Phase-Based Approach for Comprehensive Software Documentation in Modern Development Paradigms"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Abdullah A. H.","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Computers Department Engineering and Computers College\u2014Alqunfuda, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah 24381, Saudi Arabia"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2563","article-title":"Software project documentation-an essence of software development","volume":"6","author":"Chomal","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Adv. Netw. Appl."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barker, T.T. (2020). Introduction: Research sources in software documentation. Perspectives on Software Documentation, Routledge. 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