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Why You Should Keep A Dev Diary

Ethan on August 28, 2022

Introduction Hello! 😀 In this post I will explain my reasons why I keep a dev diary and why it will benefit you in your dev life. ...
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tqbit profile image
tq-bit

I'm using a similar technique using Obsidian. A colleague introduced me to dataview and I've never looked back since then, You can also backup everything to Gitlab or Github, completely for free. Perhaps that'd be something for you, too.

obsidian.md/

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Ethan

Wow, thanks for sharing :)
Definitely have to try this out.

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Wesley Cheek

I find keeping a diary keeps me on track, like you describe. More than that though it helps me to organize my thoughts. When I'm feeling lost I can read back the last few days of brainstorming and it helps me to set my course again. I always try to stay focused on one problem at a time, and my diary helps me to do that. Thanks for the post.

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Ethan

Your welcome :)
Yes it can also be a great brainstorming tool. Another great recommendation.

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Yoram Kornatzky

I use Evernote. But just for keeping record of things to remember like articles, or configurations.

Surprisingly I discovered that it is best to use a plain paper notebook jot a few things while I develop.

Like a diary. Or an agenda for the day.

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Ethan

Plain paper is also a good idea. Can write without having to switch screens etc.

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Peter Witham

Thank you for laying out good reasons to do this along with an explanation of how. I have been keeping a dev diary using Day One. But I had not thought to include a daily todo list, this would make a nice addition.
Thanks.

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ethand91 profile image
Ethan

Your Welcome. :)

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Ethan

Yes with my approach you have to keep it going. 😅

Having a separate file for each technology/framework is also a good approach, I may have to try it out.

I would love to share screenshots however I don't think my employer would appreciate it. 🥲 I could try doing it with a side project and then sharing that.

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Rafael Guzmán Barranco

Hello Ethan, can you upload an example of how you do it, in a fictitious project with a couple of fictitious tasks and incidents? Greetings!

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Ethan

Yeah sure, I'll write it up when I do my next project!

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Olesia_Fair • Edited

Can't upvote this enough. I also find that writing a dev diary helps to summarize what you're doing and help you to see where you're going, what are the milestones aheads, etc.

I use digital planner, which is largely split by project. Each project has:
Overview - what is the project, what are its goals, what will mark it done?

Learnings (these get turned into evergreen notes)

Resources - any links to information or tools that can help me - provide background etc. This can be internal links within my personal knowledgebase to whole pages or individual blocks.

Project Plan - A checklist of the project broken down into its constituent parts. Subparts denoted with indents. They're checked off when completed

Questions - Any questions that come up during the project. These will get linked to a daily task if I need to ask someone, but it's something I need or expect to need answered.

Daily Tasks - I'll tag a TODO with a date so that it turns up in my day's daily notes via a Dataview query.

Journal - each subheading under this is the date and has a narrative of what I did that da

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Ethan

Thanks for the detailed comment. :)

I agree with keeping some form of notes for the project at hand. I may have to steal a couple of your ideas.
Thanks!

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Electro Lab

Great idea, can you share with us example of yours diary? Thanks in advance.

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ethand91 profile image
Ethan

Thanks, hope it benefits you. 😄
Unfortunately my diary is not English, nor do I think my employer would like me sharing it. I could do it with a side project as an example though!