How do you personally diagram code so there's enough detail, but you aren't constantly getting lost in the formality of the system?
- context diagram for an overview
- uml sequence diagram for a more detailed view of interesting parts
- entity relatioship model for databasesPetri nets have formal semantics easy enough to grasp (firing rule) and provide enough optical cues to make them readable at a glance.
With a little practice, nets can be visually appealing, which helps in presentations and publications. I use Inkscape as a drawing tool.
Personally I prefer typing to drag-and-drop so I use https://www.gleek.io/
Check templates and turials, or ask me if you like to know more ;-)
But I've used Microsoft Visio in the past and it's a really nice solution (this was 3 years ago, so it might be better/worse now).
Component diagrams and deployment diagrams for the general overview, architecture and operations-wise.
Communication diagrams for some workflows.
Sequence diagrams to show how operations are executed.
For onboarding, sometimes a class diagram or two.
- diagram for high level
- diagram for small complex things
- comment on code as necessary
- write good enough documentation that is enough to onboard people to the project structure
- write decent commit messages