A few days ago, our head of marketing WhatsApped me a meme he spotted on X. I laughed, and then paused. It was painfully accurate.
As someone who was a developer not too long ago (and still enjoys getting hands-on with code), I could relate to this far too much. In all my years of coding, leading teams, and now heading Technology and Innovation at Opteamix, one thing has remained constant:
Developers don’t like writing documentation.
They want to build. They want to solve problems. They want to ship. But ask them to document the “why” behind a function, or explain a business rule they just implemented, and suddenly, even the most enthusiastic coder becomes a minimalist.
A lack of documentation isn’t just a developer preference; it’s an enterprise risk.
When business-critical logic is locked inside undocumented code, it becomes a form of tribal knowledge. And tribal knowledge is fragile:
- What happens when that developer moves on?
- How do you efficiently onboard new engineers?
- How do you troubleshoot issues six months from now?
Now imagine this across decades-old legacy systems, built by dozens of developers over the years. That’s more than bad practice; it’s hidden operational risk.
Documentation isn’t optional, but we need a more effective way to accomplish it. That’s where StackRewrite.AI comes in, and why I’m genuinely excited about the work we’re doing at Opteamix.
What StackRewrite.AI does differently
Some of you might be familiar with StackRewrite.AI and associate it with legacy modernization. Yes, it’s great at reading legacy COBOL, VB, JAVA, or .NET codebases and converting them into the latest tech stacks. However, one of its lesser-known superpowers is its ability to generate intelligent, human-readable documentation.
Here’s how:
- For legacy systems, it scans the code, identifies workflows, and automatically generates user stories and logic flows. These can be reviewed, enriched, and even enhanced by your SMEs.
- For new code, as your developers build applications, StackRewrite.AI can help generate inline documentation, functional summaries, and even architectural context, all based on the actual code written in the latest technology stack.
In short, it bridges the gap between code and clarity, without making developers document it themselves.
AI + Human-in-the-Loop = Better Documentation
Let me be clear, we don’t believe AI should replace developers or tech leads when it comes to judgment and context. That’s why StackRewrite.AI follows a human-in-the-loop approach: AI does the heavy lifting, and your experts review and refine. The result?
- Fewer blind spots
- Less reliance on tribal memory
- Systems that are easier to maintain, extend, and audit
- Fewer compliance gaps
The unexpected ROI of good documentation
Great documentation doesn’t just make life easier for developers; it improves onboarding, reduces rework, minimizes production issues, and even speeds up modernization when the time comes.
So yes, developers may still wince at the word “documentation.”
But now, with StackRewrite.AI, they don’t have to fight it, because AI is finally making documentation easier, faster, and (dare I say?) less painful.
Curious how it works in real life?
Download our whitepaper: Unlocking Business Value – Your Roadmap to AI-Powered Legacy Modernization.
Or book a demo with us. Let’s talk about how StackRewrite.AI can help your teams build and document with confidence.