#27764
Common Mistakes: Functional Specification for Web Development
What are pitfalls that companies should avoid when specifying Web applications for internal or external development?
Buerki, Nicolas. E-Consultancy (2004). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#19648
Functional Spec Tutorial: What and Why
Functional specifications (functional specs), in the end, are the blueprint for how you want a particular web project or application to look and work. It details what the finished product will do, how a user will interact with it, and what it will look like. By creating a blueprint of the product first, time and productivity are saved during the development stage because the programmers can program instead of also working out the logic of the user-experience. It will also enable you to manage the expectations of your clients or management, as they will know exactly what to expect.
#27757
A functional specification (or sometimes functional specifications) is a formal document used to describe in detail for software developers a product's intended capabilities, appearance, and interactions with users. The functional specification is a kind of guideline and continuing reference point as the developers write the programming code. (At least one major product development group used a "Write the manual first" approach. Before the product existed, they wrote the user's guide for a word processing system, then declared that the user's guide was the functional specification. The developers were challenged to create a product that matched what the user's guide described.) Typically, the functional specification for an application program with a series of interactive windows and dialogs with a user would show the visual appearance of the user interface and describe each of the possible user input actions and the program response actions. A functional specification may also contain formal descriptions of user tasks, dependencies on other products, and usability criteria. Many companies have a guide for developers that describes what topics any product's functional specification should contain.
Whatis.com. Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#27760
Functional Specification and Review 
The Functional Specification is created after the Software Requirements Document. It provides more detail on selected items originally described in the Software Requirements Document. Some software development organizations combine these two documents into a single document.
Electric Power Research Institute. Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#27761
Functional Specification Standard 
In general terms, the functional specification states what the proposed system is to do, whereas design is how the system is to be constructed to meet the functional specification. However in writing it, some consideration of design issues must take place, to ensure a realistic system is specified.
Software Reality. Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#27759
Getting Real, Step 1: No Functional Spec
Don't write a functional specifications document. Why? Well, there's nothing functional about a functional specifications document.
Fried, Jason. Signal vs. Noise (2005). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#27755
Whatever your role in a project, insist on getting the spec right before the code is written. The spec'ing process may take several iterations, so plan accordingly.
#27446
Painless Functional Specifications - Part 1: Why Bother?
Why won't people write specs? People claim that it's because they're saving time by skipping the spec-writing phase. They act as if spec-writing was a luxury reserved for NASA space shuttle engineers, or people who work for giant, established insurance companies. Balderdash.
Spolsky, Joel. Joel on Software (2000). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Software
#27756
Painless Functional Specifications - Part 2: What's a Spec?
When you design a product, inside and out, the most important thing is to nail down the user experience. What are the screens, how do they work, what do they do. Later, you worry about how to get from here to there. There's no use arguing about what programming language to use before you've decided what your product is going to do. In this series, I'm only talking about functional specifications.
Spolsky, Joel. Joel on Software (2000). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#24318
Seeing the World Through Different Specs: Or, How I Came to Love Writing Software Specifications 
Much has been said and written about Object-Oriented Programming in the past few years, some of it even worthwhile. While not the panacea on which we've all waited, OOP is, however, changing not only our concept of software design and development, but is subtly re-shaping the way in which we see and know the world. For technical communicators, this epistemological change will radically affect not only the way we craft software specifications, but will permanently re-shape our worldview.
Weathington, Thomas L., Jr. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Technical Writing
#27762
Writing a Functional Specification
A functional specification can substantially simplify and streamline the process of application development. Intended to describe how a piece of software works, it provides a ready reference for software developers andaligns large and disparate development teams to a single goal. In the process, it provides technical clarity on how the different components of aparticular applications are to be designed, implemented and integrated witheach other, and (if used correctly) significantly reduces the time and costcomponent of any development exercise.
Deepa L. Software Reality (2003). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Functional Specifications
#27450
Writing Effective Requirements Specifications
The Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Software Assurance Technology Center (SATC) has developed an early life cycle tool for assessing requirements that are specified in natural language. The Automated Requirements Measurement (ARM) tool was used to analyze more than 50 NASA System/Software Requirements Specification (SRS) documents. ARM reports were used to focus human analysis on specific aspects of the documentation practices exhibited by these documents. Several significant weaknesses were identified. This paper identifies the underlying problems that produce these deficiencies and recommends methods that can be used to prevent such problems.
Wilson, William M. NASA (1997). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Engineering
#27447
Writing Software Requirements Specifications
For technical writers who haven't had the experience of designing software requirements specifications (SRSs, also known as software functional specifications or system specifications) templates or even writing SRSs, they might assume that being given the opportunity to do so is either a reward or punishment for something they did (or failed to do) on a previous project. Actually, SRSs are ideal projects for technical writers to be involved with because they lay out the foundation for the development of a new product and for the types of user documentation and media that will be required later in the project development life cycle. It also doesn't hurt that you'd be playing a visible role in contributing to the success of the project.
Le Vie, Donald S., Jr. TECHWR-L (2000). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Technical Writing
#27448
Writing Technical Specifications in the Present
Technical specifications are improved in several ways with one easy procedure - writing them in the present tense. That is, rather than trying to specify constraints on a product that does not yet exist, describe the product as though it already existed.
Kendall, Matthew. Ionocom (2005). Articles>Writing>Specifications>Grammar
#33952
Stage Directions Meet Functional Specifications: They Have a Lot in Common
When it comes to modern theater, stage directions—the descriptive text that appears within brackets in a script—are an important piece of the puzzle. They speak for the playwright when he is not there. They provide details about how the playwright has imagined the environment and atmosphere. They describe critical physical aspects of the characters and settings. Stage directions can also be critical in dictating the intended tempo and rhythm of the piece. Whether they establish a production’s overall tone or elucidate particular actions of characters, stage directions help tell the complete story that is in the playwright’s mind. Stage directions accomplish all of this, using a simple convention that structurally separates them from the actual story.
Lepore, Traci. UXmatters (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Functional Specifications
