What makes an article a better one?

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I have started posting articles on CodeProject, Almost all the articles received comments 'Its too short for an Article'.

All my articles are about creating Controls,(ultimate aim is to build a control library). I have the essential things explained in the articles.

Could you please tell me what makes an article a better one? , therefore u can help me make my future articles good.

Thanks.

Posted 1-Jun-11 7:07am

VallarasuS

Updated 1-Jun-11 7:08am

v2

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Comments

Smithers-Jones 1-Jun-11 13:14pm

Weeeell, if it's too short for an article, you could still post it under Tips&Tricks.

Abhinav S 1-Jun-11 13:18pm

Good advice.

Slacker007 1-Jun-11 13:40pm

Look at John's solution/answer below to your question. He is a veteran here at CP and his advice should be strongly taken into consideration. Good luck.

5 solutions

Solution 3

John's[^] and Naerling's[^] answers are great. Also, as Smithers-Jones[^] stated in the comments, if your piece is too short to be an article, post it as a tip/trick[^].

Posted 1-Jun-11 8:37am

Marc A. Brown

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 1-Jun-11 17:02pm

Correct, my 5.
As to comments, it needs weighted approach. Please see my comment to Naerling's answer and my answer.
--SA

Solution 4

I want to add to the answer by Naerling on presentation of code and comments.

Over-commenting is also not good. Code should be self-commenting. At the same time, XML comments should be very detailed as they are very helpful during browsing of the reflected code and for Intellisense. What to do?

I prepare two versions of the code I put in the article. In the source code, I write detailed XML comments. When this code is done, I prepare some selected fragments for the text of the article. I remove all XML comments (some short informal comments are fine) and explain the type and members in articles less formally. The reader of the text needs just the ideas, the user of Intellisense needs a very formal description.

—SA

Posted 1-Jun-11 10:58am

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 1-Jun-11 11:43am

v5

Comments

Sander Rossel 1-Jun-11 17:10pm

Wow, that is a 5 just for mentioning me and even spelling it correctly!
You are right about that. In fact, in my previous article I even got some of the 'informal' comments out as I pasted it into the article.

"Over-commenting is also not good. Code should be self-commenting."
Reminds me of something I read, "Code should not be commented, if it was hard to write it should be hard to read." ;p

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 1-Jun-11 17:42pm

Actually, I meant the opposite about informal comments, they fit better in the article. However, if you take some out for the article, it could be perfectly appropriate as article better explains things in the text, if it's done well. "Code should not be commented, it..." is a wise advice. If it was "Code should not be commented at all" it would be an exaggeration. :-)

Thank you, Naerling,
--SA

Solution 5

Already Marc written an article about this

A Guide To Writing Articles For Code Project[^]

Free attachment

Code Project Article FAQ[^]

Posted 1-Jun-11 16:55pm

thatraja

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When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
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#realJSOP · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-01T07:21:00

0) New and Innovative Ideas

1) Content beyond a simple step-by-step guide that mostly uses screen shots of the steps, or a mere code dump.

2) Full discussion of theory and practice, and how the two almost never converge

3) Attention to detail - spelling, grammar, ACCURACY

4) Formatting - you'll get torn to shreds over formatting issues

5) Article maintenance

6) Response to comments

7) Long enough to take a little time to read, but not so long as to make it a tome

8) Fight the urge to make a multi-part article. More often than not, it's not necessary or advisable

Sander Rossel · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-01T08:31:00

Solution 2

I want to add to Johns (great) answer, comment the code in your sample projects. Do not just dump all the code in your article and explain it in one or two sentences. Just copy the most important code and explain it bit by bit. Comment ALL the code.
Good luck on writing good articles!

Posted 1-Jun-11 8:31am

Sander Rossel

Updated 1-Jun-11 8:32am

v2

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 1-Jun-11 17:01pm

Hi, you-the-one-who-must-not-be-named-to-avoid-misspelling! :-)
Good point, my 5.

I like this idea very much, but your note of commenting needs some improvement.
Please look at my answer.
--SA

What makes an article a better one?

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