Dennis Dawson's Writing Samples

First and foremost, I'm a communicator. My greatest asset is the ability to understand things, then explain them in concise but understandable English.

My basic philosophies:

• Complexity is composed of simple things. Any task can be broken down into its components and explained in a way that will enable anyone to do the task.
• I am successful when my reader is successful. If I write something that is intended to educate people, and they do not learn from what I write, it is my fault, not theirs.
• Jargon is the last refuge of scoundrels. If I understand what I'm talking about, I can explain it in plain English.
• Keep it simple. I provide short examples that illustrate specific concepts on an atomic level, rather than trying to create one all-encompassing sample.

Here are some samples of my writing style.

Technical Documentation

Grokking the Paradigm

This is a series of whitepapers and narrated slide decks directed toward intelligent Java developers who are new to the EMC|Documentum Web Development Kit.

Documentum Foundation Classes Development Guide

I was recently assigned to the DFC Development Guide. DFC comprises the lowest level Java libraries for use by our customers. In this version, I added the Test Application and made certain that all sample code in the manual could be run from this bare-bones interface (prior versions provided code snippets out of context).

9iFS Developer's Guide

I wrote the Developer's Guide for the original release of Oracle iFS. After I joined the Product Management group, I continued to work on some of the more complex chapters (though I also revised/edited others). These chapters are the ones I personally wrote from scratch in this release of the documentation (with little editorial feedback from others):

4. Creating an Oracle Internet File System Document
10. XML and the Oracle Internet File System
12. Web Interface Customization

9iFS Developer's Resources

Developer's Resources is my own creation, and best represents my preferred approach to technical documentation. I believe it's possible to write solid technical documentation without being dry and dull.

Online documentation has the advantage of allowing users to dig deeper in areas of interest, or letting them skip the details and get right to the step-by-step instructions.

Oracle White Papers

These are some high-level marketing documents for 9iFS. We sold the product as an out-of-the-box solution (Oracle Files) and as a file server development tool (Oracle Content Management Software Development Kit).

File Services for the Internet Age: Oracle Files (Business White Paper)

Oracle Internet File System Feature Overview

Data Sheet: Oracle Files

Taking Control of Your Content: The Oracle Content Management Software Development Kit (Business White Paper)

Building Custom Applications with the Oracle Internet File System Content Management Software Development Kit (Technical White Paper)

Oracle Content Management Software Development Kit Feature Overview

Personal Projects

My Book

Mark Kistler's Web Wizards (Amazon.com listing) This is a book I published through Simon & Schuster in April, 2000. It's a book for grammar school kids that teaches them how to make their own web pages. I wrote the book, Mark illustrated it, but since he's the one with the T.V. show, he gets top billing. That's me in the purple robe.

Poetry

Here are some links to some of my poetry.

Back to Dennis Dawson's Self-promotion Page.