DocBook: Write Once, Read Anywhere Documentation

ocBook is an OASIS standard for creating technical documentation in XML. The documentation from Spring or Hibernate is generated from DocBook. Particularly suited for computer-related content, DocBook is a set of XML tags, defined by a Document Type Definition (DTD) and XML schema for technical content. In addition to the DTD, DocBook and other open source projects supply a collection of tools and frameworks that enable developers to transform DocBook-compliant XML into PDF, HTML, Eclipse Help, and even MAN pages. This alleviates the need to write the same material multiple times or manually convert from one format to another.

No big deal, you say. I can write HTML, Eclipse Help, and PDF if I have to. Why is DocBook different? In the DocBook model, you write the raw documentation once in XML and then transform or "compile" it to the desired target formats using DocBook tools—a paradigm familiar to developers, who already code and compile. So DocBook is ideal for developers who have to write documentation, not only because it is targeted for technical content but also because DocBook files—like any other XML files—can be managed and edited within an IDE. No longer is documentation someone else's problem; it's right there next to your code. This encourages you keep the software documentation in sync as you develop.