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Keep a programming journal

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Re: Keep a programming journal

#11

Post by pingswept »

I've been keeping a project journal in a series of notebooks for a few years. As I've filled more and more notebooks, I miss the searchability of computerized journals. For a while, kept a text file open all the time and tried using it as a journal, but that's lousy for any kind of sketching.

My most recent attempt has been a pile of Markdown files in a Github repository. I edit them directly in Github's editor and they are automatically rendered by Github, so I get nice syntax highlighting and working links. It has the added advantage that I can send people links to whatever I'm struggling with, like "Here's the error message I'm getting: ."

Here's my log: https://github.com/pingswept/dev-log (Obviously, this only works because most of what I do these days is open source, but it could work just as well on an intranet.)

I've been creating a new file for each day's log, but I think that might not be quite the right approach. It makes searching a little more difficult (though still much easier than notebooks), but makes editing easier because I don't have to scroll to the bottom of a huge file to start typing.

If anyone has suggestions of better ways to do this, I'm definitely interested.

(Hmmm. Maybe there's a keyboard shortcut for skip-to-bottom-of-file in the Github editor. Edit: hey, there is! Command-down-arrow.)

Re: Keep a programming journal

#12

Post by mikle »

I think that dead paper is not the right medium for this. I love OneNote and how flexible it is. I can quickly open a note (faster then notepad on my machine) to jot down a todo or some snippet I need or I can open my project notebook and see all my "design meetings" (with myself) and it is searchable AND there is a way to encrypt sections. I've put my OneNote notebooks on dropbox and that's basically a perfect system for me.

The two things this is weak in are sharing and not having a leather bound tactile notebook and pen to play with which I must admit looks pretty cool.

Re: Keep a programming journal

#13

Post by imperialWicket »

This is spot on.

I love the soft-leather grid notebooks from miquelrius (no affiliation whatsoever, but I always get comments about them): http://www.shopmiquelrius.com/servlet/the-553/Flexible-Noteb...

I always keep one of those handy, as well as a whiteboard. Together they serve as my rubber duck and todo list; no matter what apps, services, etc. I've tried, I always come back to pen/paper and marker/whiteboard - it just works.

Re: Keep a programming journal

#14

Post by Terretta »

kellishaver wrote: post #7
babarock wrote: post #2

As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem. For the past year or so, every time I worked on a non-trivial problem, I did it on a sheet of paper. It definitely took discipline at first but now I couldn't do it any other way…

After switching to a Model M keyboard a few years ago (one that I found in a shed covered in 10yrs of dirt and grease that still worked like new once it was cleaned up), I switched to writing conference call notes on a Mead notebook instead of typing them, because the keyboard was so loud. After a few weeks of this, my handwriting got back to a decent quality and efficiency and now I find that I take notes on paper f…

Beautiful articulation of what's wrong with the iPad.

Re: Keep a programming journal

#15

Post by JoeAltmaier »

A customer demanded I keep notebooks, dated an initialed on each page; I've never stopped. They wanted it because they are a patent mill (they have hundreds, file dozens annually). I do it because I can review what's done, whats left; keep todo lists up to date easily; keep lists on the right page, scribble notes on the left; find out when something started, when it finished.

Hard to draw diagrams in most todo-list apps; where do you jot phone #s, debugging constants, interview notes?

Re: Keep a programming journal

#18

Post by gmrple »

asynchronous13 wrote: post #10

My background is in Electrical Engineering, and we were always taught to keep a work journal with specific features so it would be a legal document. I just figured they were trying to sell us the more expensive notebooks. That is, until some colleagues were called to court to testify in a patent challenge about the contents of their journals (regarding work from 10 years prior). I take my journal a lot more seriously…

They taught me to have it signed, by myself and someone else every day.

Re: Keep a programming journal

#20

Post by _pius »

babarock wrote: post #2

As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem. For the past year or so, every time I worked on a non-trivial problem, I did it on a sheet of paper. It definitely took discipline at first but now I couldn't do it any other way…

As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem.

Agreed. Also relevant to this topic is Rich Hickey's talk on "Hammock Driven Development": http://blip.tv/clojure/hammock-driven-development-4475586

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