“Stub” is the name given to a short and unsatisfactory composition made only to be a base for improvement. It could also be considered a rough draft, requiring additions and enhancements to become fully functional. Stub, for example, may come in the form of a concise article, a part of a bigger project, or an initial signpost pointing to later development.
A stub summarizes a subject, focusing on its essential issues. That is usually very short and includes the core information, a summary sketch, or a preliminary analysis without the full-fledged data of an ultimate article. A stub provides general knowledge about the subject. It lays a foundation on which the reader can build more in-depth details.
The idea behind this is that stub is a standard tool applied in collaborative writing initiatives, such as encyclopedias, texts, and online databases, with multiple writers contributing to one article or section, improving it gradually. They are nothing but markers of a topic that requires more attention to be made on it for better explanation.
Further, they are essential to the writers themselves. An author can use a stub to sketch out the shape that their writing will take before embarking on a fully-fledged composition. This process ensures that they formulate their ideas correctly, fill the existing gaps, and get an overall structure they can later incorporate into the final piece.
The stub in writing, therefore, serves as a precursor for the subsequent discussion, growth, and correction of the topic and gives the readers something to go by as they pursue a deeper analysis.