Docco
Docco is a quick-and-dirty, hundred-line-long, literate-programming-style documentation generator. It produces HTML that displays your comments alongside your code.
documentation
generator
literate-programming
Docco: Quick Documentation Generator
A rapid and effortless way to create well-structured, literate-programming-style documentation for your projects, displaying code alongside comments in readable HTML.
What is Docco?
Docco is a software documentation generator that uses a literate programming style to display code and comments side-by-side in HTML format. It was created by Jeremy Ashkenas and emphasizes the documentation aspect of code over execution.
Some key features and characteristics of Docco include:
- Lightweight and simple - Docco is around 100 lines of code and easy to add to any project
- Generates annotated source code listings - It takes source code with comments and produces HTML that shows them side-by-side
- Formatting preserves indentation - The HTML output preserves code structure and indentation
- Support for multiple languages - It works with JavaScript, CoffeeScript, Ruby, Python, and more
- No parsing or processing of code - Docco simply extracts comments and code into HTML, it does not execute or analyze code
- Focus on documentation over execution - The intent is to document code, not necessarily run it
- Manual process - Docco does not update HTML automatically, documentation needs to be manually regenerated
Overall, Docco provides a fast, simple way to generate annotated source code listings that show documentation comments alongside code. Its lightweight approach emphasizes documentation over execution.
Docco Features
Features
- Generates documentation from comments in source code
- Supports multiple languages like JavaScript, CoffeeScript, Ruby, Python, etc
- Generates HTML output that displays comments alongside code
- Lightweight and simple implementation (~100 lines of code)
- Open source and free to use
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Quick and easy way to generate documentation
Keeps documentation alongside code
Lightweight and simple to add to projects
Supports annotating code in multiple languages
Open source with MIT license
Cons
Limited formatting options for docs
Not suitable for large, complex documentation
HTML output only (no PDF, etc)
No built-in hosting or publishing options
Minimal configuration options
Official Links
The Best Docco Alternatives
Top Development and Documentation and other similar apps like Docco
Here are some alternatives to Docco:
Suggest an alternative ❐
MkDocs
MkDocs is a fast, simple and Markdown-focused open source static site generator aimed at building project documentation. Features include:Write documentation source files in MarkdownConfigure project with simple YAML configuration fileBuilt-in search and navigation featuresVariety of themes availableEasily customizable and extensibleOne command project buildsPlatform-independent and hosted anywhereGood for developer, project and...
Nextra
Nextra is an open-source framework built on top of Next.js that aims to make creating static websites, blogs and documentation sites faster and easier. Here are some of the key features it offers:Built-in support for Markdown - Nextra allows you to create pages and posts using Markdown syntax. This means...
Docsify.js
Docsify.js is an open source documentation site generator for JavaScript applications and libraries. It allows developers to create searchable, customizable documentation websites from Markdown or README files with only a few lines of configuration.Some key features of Docsify.js:Lightweight - No need to build, compile or generate static files. Sites load...
Docpress
Docpress is an open-source static site generator optimized for technical documentation. It allows teams to write documentation using simple markdown syntax and generates a fast, SEO-friendly static website that can be easily hosted on any web server.Some key features of Docpress include:Developer-friendly markdown authoring with support for code snippets, images,...
ORCHID
Orchid is an open-source VPN (Virtual Private Network) software and platform that launched in 2019. It aims to provide secure, private, and uncensored internet access through a decentralized VPN network.Unlike traditional centralized VPN providers, Orchid utilizes blockchain technology and peer-to-peer connections to create a decentralized marketplace for VPN bandwidth. The...
Docnado
Docnado is a cloud-based document management and workflow automation platform designed for modern businesses. It enables organizations to easily store, organize, manage, share and track documents from one centralized and secure location.With Docnado, you can build customizable workflows to streamline business processes like contract approvals, employee onboarding, audits, and more....
Docute
Docute is an open-source documentation site generator created by EGOIST and built on Vue.js components and Markdown. It is designed to be simple, lightweight, and extensible for creating project documentation sites and API references.Some key features of Docute include:Use Markdown for content creation - Write docs in Markdown for ease-of-writingVue...
Hexo-theme-doc
Hexo-theme-doc is a popular open-source theme for building documentation websites with Hexo. It is designed to be simple, responsive, and easy to customize. Some key features of hexo-theme-doc include:Clean, readable layout focusing on documentation contentResponsive design that works well on mobile and desktopCustomizable and extensible through themes and pluginsSupport for...
Antora
Antora is an open source static site generator optimized for documenting component and microservice architectures. It builds documentation sites from modular Markdown or AsciiDoc content that lives alongside the code in version control repositories.Some key features of Antora:Bundles documentation from multiple component repositories into a unified siteAuto-generates navigation, links, and...
Couscous
Couscous is an open source website development tool for publishing static websites from Markdown documents to GitHub Pages. It provides a fast and easy way to preview Markdown-based websites locally and publish changes automatically to GitHub Pages when ready.Some key features of Couscous include:Editing websites in Markdown format, allowing focus...
