A Better Software Development Book Authoring Process
Blending Coding and Writing
When I began rewriting Angular Advocate (now Angular for Business), preparing it to be my first traditionally-published book, I saw a chance to streamline my writing and editing process. Through trial and error, I came up with some optimizations that not only made my work easier but also more enjoyable. I’m hoping that some of what I learned will help others in their own writing journeys.
Book Authoring with VS Code
When I wrote all of my other books, I wrote them in Microsoft Word. It was a familiar process, fitting for most authors. Amazon prefers it, so it was the default choice. But as I continued to write about software development, I realized the limitations of Word in my workflow. Have you ever tried to format a code block in Word? It’s challenging, to be kind. I needed a tool that could accommodate both my coding examples and writing in a way that Word couldn’t.
I wrote the entire book in VS Code using Markdown, one file per chapter. The demo code is already in VS Code, of course. Further, both the book and the demo are in the same Git repository. This approach gives me source control and less context switching. I found it to be a seamless way to integrate coding and writing, creating a unified workspace…
