Do you like to take notes when you're writing code?
Do you organize them in some way, or do you only keep notes about your current tasks?
What pieces of information do you think are helpful to keep track of?
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Oldest comments (56)
I like to keep a small text document of TODO items for my current ticket. If something is particularly complex then I’ll keep my notes saved for future reference, but there’s typically enough details in the ticket or the code / comments that I don’t need my notes after the fact.
Curious to see what other people take notes on and how it helps their coding process.
I basically do this, but update/reply/edit the original ticket so if I were to get shifted to another task, someone else can leverage any notes/information I took.
Or if in the future I need to go back over the same ticket everything is in the same place, for me or whoever.
That's a good point. Need to make sure enough information is there for someone who may work on it later
I either take notes in a physical notebook, or in my local kanban board (I use kanbanier for Mac, a simple app) where I track status.
Do you feel like using a physical notebook slows you down? It seems like that would make things more difficult if you need to reference certain functions or file names
I could see it being helpful for limiting distractions though
Obsidian, mentioned here, looks promising.
The Productivity apps I use in 2022
Cassidy Williams ・ Mar 18 ・ 4 min read
I just use Textedit
Thanks, I'll check it out
Notion
When there's a long command idiosyncratic to a codebase I actually throw it in my Slack messages to myself -- avoids multiplication of apps.
I should figure out how to alias these though-- any good resources?
I think I'd probably use Slack in that way if my company didn't have messages set to auto-delete after a certain amount of time
If you have idiosyncratic commands that are really common in a codebase, it might be helpful to create a
development.mdfile for quick referenceThat's a great idea!
I tend to have a
scriptsfolder in my home dir, usually set up as executables with references to the working dir if needed. Shell aliases if they're more common.It depends on the nature of the note.
When the note is intended to be shared I will just write it in the code using an highlighter tool to make sure it's visible. This way the notes can be quickly shared with my peers.
When it's a note that require discussion: Notion
When it's a note for me, I will drop it in my Notion note section.
I normally take notes on Obsidian: my to-dos, daily reflection, meetings notes, definitions and so on.
If I'm extremely and highly stressed out I start to brain-dump everything on paper. For me, it feels like I'm moving things from my brain to somewhere else and I can see it much clearly than with my computer.
I feel that for my brain, the computer is just an extension of itself, but paper? nope, it's a place to vomit feelings/thoughts/ideas/etc 😂 I think this is due to my teen years where I would draw a lot. Every idea, thought, feeling was set on paper and promptly forgotten hahaha
I don't know the last time I've resorted to using paper, but sometimes if I need to sketch some diagrams out with my Wacom tablet
Do you like Obsidian? How does it compare to Notion?
aah I wouldn't be a good person to ask regarding Notion vs Obsidian because I was never properly able to use Notion! it would distract me more than I actually using it hahaha I would make pretty dashboards one day and the other? eeeeh I wouldn't do anything with it.
Obsidian sorta allows me to create and use all my creativity without distracting me. It really does help me focus on writing rather than "designing my dashboard to be aesthetic" 😂
Ah, gotcha. I guess I haven't delved too deep into what Notion can do, since I didn't realize it was possible to spend that much time making things look better haha
I mostly use it for writing my blog posts and keeping a schedule of when I'm going to publish things
I suggest a small search in pinterest for notion 😂
I use obsidian mostly for work, to handle my work planning. My personal obsidian is more for jotting down things I don't want to forget or saving information or thoughts about subjects I'm interested in, not so much for planning (I do a little bit for non code projects). I use paper planners for weekly home planning since I really like my stickers and washi tape :3
Would you happen to know the difference between Obsidian and Evernote?
Im just starting to take notes but insured about what tool is best.
Thanks!
Hi, sorry for the late reply!
I actually decided on Obsidian as a replacement for Evernote :surprised: I used Evernote a lot to take notes, I really liked the editor and the notebook organization they have going on but the discoverability of whatever I wrote down wasn't as good, or at least I wasn't really good at it. I also didn't like how it was a web app that would limit the access to my notes unless I paid (or logged out constantly and I'm more of a remember me type of gal). I don't have that trouble with Obsidian because my notes belong to me and are in my computer (I should link it to a git repo though, but for now it's fine), I pay for the sync between my phone and computer and that's it. I don't depend on a 3rd party in this case!
Also, Obsidian has a really nice, supportive and helpful community! I really suggest looking for beginner resources because when you open Obsidian for the first time you'll feel like looking at a blank paper! so many possibilities xD
But, the only way to find out if a platform is for you is to test it out! that's how I know if something works or not for me c:
Not OP, but have used both.
Notion is your 'use-however-you-want' software, and you can practically customize it in anyway that you see fit. You can soure your stuff from different databases, linked into one dashboard, table, kanban, or calendar view
Obsidian on the other hand is a very streamlined note taking app. But despite of, it does a really good job of linking references to what you're currently working on without getting distracted.
EDIT: Ohh OP beat me to the "getting distracted" part 😅
I have been looking into Obsidian. It looks like a wonderful application to start using.
it is!! it can also send you through a personal knowledge management rabbit hole which is an experience I personally really enjoyed 😂
I use notion, I write some cheatsheet type things down and maybe some key interactions. I try to keep it at a bare minimum.
Mostly try to focus on actually trying to implement what I'm studying so it sticks more. At least thats whats worked for me.
I always take notes or write down my TODO-list when coding. I like to use Trello (trello.com) because of it's simplicity and nice features. If I'm working on a smaller project, I like to make little notes on post-its and stick them on the edges of my screen. That often results in a quite weird looking screen setup, but at least I got an overview of everything :)
Transient notes go into Slack, open strands in code go into TODO-tagged comments (thanks JetBrains for letting me find them easily!), and more persistent notes go into a root-level TODO/README, our wiki, or as a printout on the whiteboard.
Relevant personal notes just get dumped onto the desktop, with cleanup every year or so during business downtime.
For development sketches and so on, I just go pen&paper. Usually have a small A6 booklet with me for that purpose, and scribble down ideas and plans while sitting on the deck.