Another difference is that, with software, you have proxies for measuring how well you’re doing. For a functional requirement (like adding a new feature, e.g.), you usually have a clear indicator of success: the feature either works or it doesn’t. For a non-functional requirement, you have benchmarks you can run to test resource usage, latency, frames per second, or some other metrics that you might find relevant. Writers don’t have such proxies. There’s no definitive way of knowing if your writing will resonate with anyone out there.
But what about “reading level”? I smiled while reading this so its worth a note.
Quote Citation: on breakpoint, “Writing Code vs. Writing Prose | on breakpoint”, 2025-10-02, https://onbreakpoint.com/writing-code-vs.-writing-prose/