{"id":674,"date":"2023-04-10T13:14:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T13:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrabioappdev.wpenginepowered.com\/why-the-new-and-improved-wdl-docs-deserve-a-second-look\/"},"modified":"2023-12-27T04:55:54","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T04:55:54","slug":"why-the-new-and-improved-wdl-docs-deserve-a-second-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terra.bio\/why-the-new-and-improved-wdl-docs-deserve-a-second-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the new and improved WDL docs deserve a second look"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever found yourself (desperately?) searching for WDL (Workflow Description Language) documentation that suits your needs and coming up short? I have. I was in that boat a year ago when I joined the Broad. I had never heard of WDL before, but I was starting to document WDL scripts for the Pipeline Development team, so I needed to learn quickly. In my search, I found several resources that I would later realize are quite helpful. But at that time I was looking for something really basic to get me started and what I was finding felt a bit too advanced. My team, User Education, created some great basic resources a number of years ago, but unfortunately, they had become out of date.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember being really frustrated; the only resources that seemed geared toward beginners weren’t usable because they hadn\u2019t been updated in years. And I\u2019m not the only person who felt this way. In July 2022, a survey of workflow users in Terra revealed that more than 75% were very interested or somewhat interested in learning more about coding in WDL and 50% have used or wanted to use those introductory materials to learn WDL, but weren\u2019t able to because the documentation was outdated. Users also told us they wanted to see more tutorials and example workflows. Without these resources, they were left with limited options for learning WDL.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s because of that user feedback and my own experience that I\u2019m especially excited to announce that my team recently finished a total overhaul of the introductory WDL materials.\u00a0 The updated resources include:<\/span><\/p>\n