As a software engineer, I should probably write things down. So I built a thing.

I like writing code but I also like to write.

I read this article on how software engineers should write about 5 years ago and it still resonates. It's a quick read so please have a look when you get the chance.

As a full-time software engineer, taking notes and simply writing about what happened during my day has served beneficial. At the end of each work day, my team is asked to submit a daily "stand-up" / summary of our day via e-mail.

So how can I mix writing code with writing?

My teammate at work showed me a bash script that he wrote that automatically made a notes "template" in markdown I was inspired to make something like that for myself. So as a result, I wanted to write one in nodeJS.

...Voila!

The tool is called dev-note and you can check it out here.

How it works (I mean...at least for me)

Once you've installed it on your machine, you should have access to the dev-note executable. In whatever current working directory you're in, it will automatically create a /notes directory along with a Markdown file that is date stamped.

> dev-note
Looks like this is your first time running dev-journal this month
We made a "notes" directory for your notes. Happy writing!
./notes/apr/2020-04-12.md successfully created!

Example

You can look at the example note that I made. It follows a similar template that we use at work:

Notes 2020-04-12

========================

Today

• I made this example note for this repository so I can show it on my dev.to blog
• Had a good chat about async / await with a co-worker
• I attended this meeting about something I'm interested in so I think I'll keep going

Tomorrow

• Finish refactoring some code
• Call my mom

It's only fitting that during these odd times of self-isolation / distancing, writing has served to be therapeutic.

Even if nobody reads your essay, writing it will make an impact on you. It will clarify your opinion on a topic and strengthen– or even weaken– your beliefs. The process alone of putting jumbled thoughts into concrete words is valuable.

Happy writing.