There is another interesting linked post…
https://hamatti.org/posts/how-i-take-work-notes-as-a-develop...
As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
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Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#22I don't understand the pen/physical notebook thing. It's slow to write, insanely slow to search what you've written, almost impossible to copy or share.
Funny. I was tolling the virtues of my spiral notebook which is always on my desk to a coworker, whom I was trying to get out of some trouble and i got... silence. That notebook is the difference between said coworker and I. She didn't get it.
That notebook is the fastest most accessible tool to capture my thoughts. I can state concisely what was discussed in a team meeting last october before any notetaking tool boots up. I know kids names, birthdays and favorite movies of almost all my coworkers which I can glance without switching windows while sharing my screen.
the impossibility of such content being legible to anyone else and being shared is a feature I value very highly.
i take it where i want, introspect, take notes. No screen. No distractions. I doodle, draw lines, write jokes, whatever.
Pages on the right are work things. On the left are my ideas. Index on the first page tells me exactly where to turn to for that idea and mockups i had on filling tedious forms.
I know when I'm spinning my wheels. I can see the gaps in my thinking from months ago. I can see patterns in human behavior that I would otherwise have not noticed.
The simplicity is a huge advantage. I stopped looking for anything better. I don't try to promote it either (except on rare occasions). Saved me hours.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#23I don't understand the pen/physical notebook thing. It's slow to write, insanely slow to search what you've written, almost impossible to copy or share.
I also use a notebook and pen constantly as a software engineer - but never when I need any of the properties you just mentioned. It is absolutely the wrong tool for any long-term information store. Ephemeral think-it-through process notes only. Obsidian for anything that should live longer than the current problem I’m trying to solve.
I used to have a hybrid setup of paper as an offloading tool + Notion as a knowledge management system. However, since moving to Obsidian, I've never felt the need to use paper. Adding a line item in my daily note is much faster and efficient for me
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#24Hard disagree. My most important tool is google sheets.
Multiplayer mind mapping; idea organization; clear understanding for all; fast reorg; sequential and/or parallel flows or concepts; etc etc.
The worst part is having large calls watch me misspell things and fumble to correct it on a shared screen.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#25Some of the most intelligent people I've ever met in math, physics, and computer science don't even use a notebook. They use printer paper and pen. When they're done, they throw the paper away.
I have seldom found personal notes from far in the past to be useful. If there's something worth noting down, then it goes into documentation, so others can stumble upon whatever quirk I've come across in the future. If there's something I really want to remember, I create flashcards and do spaced repetition until I've learned the thing. But that's just me, and I imagine my way doesn't work for a lot of people.
I think people are taking this post a little too personally and literally. This is a writer's piece. The title is meant to share a philosophy that this developer subscribes to. Nothing about it is declaring that others must subscribe to it as well.
If a pen and notebook don't work for you, then don't use it.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#26I don't understand the pen/physical notebook thing. It's slow to write, insanely slow to search what you've written, almost impossible to copy or share.
All true but I find that a pen and paper and a couple of diagrams help me think and solidify an idea.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#27I don't understand the pen/physical notebook thing. It's slow to write, insanely slow to search what you've written, almost impossible to copy or share.
In the context of this post it's not about preserving or sharing the thoughts. Writing, in this case, is a "thinking tool". Forcing yourself to materialise the thoughts as actual, written, text helps form clear ideas.
that’s so alien to me. for me, writing by hand is frustrating to the point of distraction. if I want to think clearly, my best bet is to do it silently, in my head.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#28I have tried both. Going fully digital and fully notebook oriented. The best I have come up with is to have long term notes in a note app but your on going current thought process in a book. Like what you are currently doing or it's process.
This helps with the search and copy issue of going physical. But writing things for your ongoing process / tasks makes you remember things so much better. Sometimes, all I have to do is write. I don't have refer them. But if I have to, I usually have a better sense of how I got to the end result cos I have the journey written down in my notebook. Also being a fountain pen lover helps.
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#29And your secretary types in the code and it runs in the first attempt?
Re: As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook
#30Calling a notebook the “most important tool” for a dev is pure romanticism. Useful for some, sure, but let's not pretend it outweighs a debugger, version control, or CI. This isn't craftsmanship cosplay, it's software engineering.
Thanks for pointing this out. In the same vein there are so many posts about productivity systems where people put endless amount of time into crafting their gtd notebooks with tabs and lists, etc. All that time spent to be productive instead of actually being productive. Or people describing their ideal Obsidian work flows instead of actually noting anything useful down in it. People writing about how they built their own blogging engine because their particular way of blogging is so unique that they had to hand-roll something. All that time spent on building a blog rather than blogging. (I've been there too).
I love "This isn't craftsmanship cosplay, it's software engineering.". I will definitely steal this, let me put it in my notebook.