phpDocumentor VS DocFX

phpDocumentor

Documentation Generator for PHP . Contribute to phpDocumentor/phpDocumentor development by creating an account on GitHub.

DocFX

A documentation generation tool for API reference and Markdown files!

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2023-07-28

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2023-05-11

phpDocumentor

Website: github.com
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DocFX

Website: dotnet.github.io
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phpDocumentor features and specs

Comprehensive Documentation
phpDocumentor generates detailed documentation, including class structures, methods, and properties, which makes it easier for developers to understand large codebases.
Automatic Documentation Generation
It automatically generates documentation based on the comments and annotations in the code, which saves time and effort compared to manually writing documentation.
Customization
phpDocumentor allows for customization in the documentation output, including templates for different styles and formats, ensuring the documentation meets specific project needs.
Integration
It can be easily integrated into various development workflows and continuous integration pipelines, providing up-to-date documentation with every code change.
Community Support
Being an open-source project, phpDocumentor has an active community that provides support and contributes to its continuous improvement.

Possible disadvantages of phpDocumentor

Learning Curve
New users may find it challenging to learn phpDocumentor, especially those unfamiliar with the PHPDoc standard or command-line interfaces.
Configuration Complexity
Configuring phpDocumentor can be complex, particularly for projects with extensive customization needs or non-standard directory structures.
Performance
Generating documentation for very large projects can be slow and resource-intensive, potentially impacting overall development productivity.
PHP Focused
phpDocumentor is specifically designed for PHP, meaning it is not suitable for projects written in other languages, limiting its use in multi-language ecosystems.
Maintenance
As an open-source tool, users may encounter issues with timely updates or bug fixes unless actively maintained by contributors.

DocFX features and specs

Open Source
DocFX is an open-source project, which allows for community contributions and transparency in development.
Multi-platform Support
It supports generating documentation for .NET projects across different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Comprehensive Documentation
DocFX can generate documentation from source code files as well as markdown files, making it versatile for different types of documentation needs.
Customization and Extensibility
The tool allows for customization of templates and supports plugins, enabling users to tailor the output to their specific requirements.
Static Site Generation
DocFX can generate a full static website from the documentation, which can be easily hosted on platforms like GitHub Pages.
Integration with .NET Core
DocFX integrates well with .NET ecosystem, making it a convenient choice for .NET developers for both code and conceptual documentation.

Possible disadvantages of DocFX

Complex Setup
The initial configuration and setup might be complex for users who are not familiar with the tooling, requiring careful reading of the documentation.
Performance Issues
For large projects, DocFX can be slow during the documentation generation process, which may affect productivity for large-scale documentation.
Limited Non-.NET Language Support
While it is excellent for .NET projects, DocFX offers limited features when applied to projects in other programming languages.
Documentation Quality
Some users might find that the generated documentation lacks polish out-of-the-box, requiring additional effort to meet professional publishing standards.
Learning Curve
There can be a learning curve for new users in understanding how to use DocFX effectively, especially in customizing templates and themes.

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DocFX videos

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Generate Java documentation with DocFX

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to phpDocumentor and DocFX)

DocFX

Documentation

10 10%

Documentation

90% 90

Knowledge Base

15 15%

Knowledge Base

85% 85

Documentation As A Service & Tools

14 14%

Documentation As A Service & Tools

86% 86

Knowledge Management

100 100%

Knowledge Management

0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using phpDocumentor and DocFX. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DocFX seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

phpDocumentor mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of phpDocumentor yet. Tracking of phpDocumentor recommendations started around Mar 2021.

DocFX mentions (7)

TSDocs.dev: type docs for any JavaScript library
This is a better looking version of what Java and C# have had for a long time (kudos to the author for that!), is that the inspiration for this tool? https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/windows/javadoc.html https://dotnet.github.io/docfx/ I saw the author mentioned in another comment that they found themselves peeping inside type declaration files "too often". While I do often use sites generated... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
What Does Microsoft Use to Create their KB Articles?
Actually, we use it for OptiTune, it's called "docfx" https://dotnet.github.io/docfx/. Source: over 3 years ago
Library / Codebase Documentation - Multiple aggregated libraries - How to create? DocFx does not support this?
We would really prefer to use a somewhat generic pre-made tool for this (such as DocFX) compared to rolling our own solution. We can roll our own solution... But would prefer not to so that we can minimize development and maintenance overhead. Source: over 3 years ago
CSharp Docuementation Site
I use docfx from microsoft to generate documentation for all my oss libraries. Source: over 3 years ago
What platform is Microsoft Docs hosted on?
My best guess would be that there's a CI/CD pipeline in GitHub that utilizes DocFX to convert the Markdown files to HTML. The constructed HTML files are then placed in an Azure Storage account that configured for Static Website Hosting combined with Azure CDN. Source: over 3 years ago