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Using a logbook to improve your programming

routley.io

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Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#61

Post by swah »

JAFTEM wrote: post #41

Surprised no one has mentioned doing this in a physical notebook with a pen. I started doing what the author describes a long time ago to document bugs to come back to later. I soon realized it's just a good way to keep my thoughts organized and be more productive. I tried doing something similar with a text editor but grew tired switching screens or tabs. A notebook is also a bit more accessible than a laptop when y…

Most likely you love high quality notebooks and writing instruments, and you probably have neat handwriting.

I rather have files that I can understand later, and easily grep as a bonus...

(I do admit that crossing done tasks on a piece of paper feels very good.)

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#63

Post by nohope »

This is a nice and simple! Usually I keep a logbook separated for each project but it looks more like a diary where I record failed approaches and new tries to solve a problem.

For more structured documentation, I keep separated text files for each solution that I can easily find if I need it later.

EDIT: Also, scratching your plan with pencil and paper before implementing it helps a lot.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#64

Post by 50CNT »

swah wrote: post #61
JAFTEM wrote: post #41

Surprised no one has mentioned doing this in a physical notebook with a pen. I started doing what the author describes a long time ago to document bugs to come back to later. I soon realized it's just a good way to keep my thoughts organized and be more productive. I tried doing something similar with a text editor but grew tired switching screens or tabs. A notebook is also a bit more accessible than a laptop when y…

Most likely you love high quality notebooks and writing instruments, and you probably have neat handwriting. I rather have files that I can understand later, and easily grep as a bonus... (I do admit that crossing done tasks on a piece of paper feels very good.)

I like to think of blank pages as mini whiteboards. With a multifunction copier i can print out lined, grid paper or specialty layouts and whip it through the scanner once im done with it keeping a digital copy. 3USD buys me 500 pages, and with a laser printer [250USD], toner refill kit, etc. that comes out to less than a cent a page, or 3 cents if I amortize the printer over 10k pages (assuming it breaks once it hits its one month maximum duty cycle, which is stupid conservative).

That plus a nice fountain pen [Lamy Safari 18.7USD], ink [J. Herbin Perle Noir 7.2USD/30ml], mechanical pencil [Lamy Safari 12USD], pencil leads [Uni Nano Dia 0.9USD/20leads], technical pen [Rotring Isograph 16.3USD], and I've got a nice little setup.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#65

Post by deburo »

JAFTEM wrote: post #41

Surprised no one has mentioned doing this in a physical notebook with a pen. I started doing what the author describes a long time ago to document bugs to come back to later. I soon realized it's just a good way to keep my thoughts organized and be more productive. I tried doing something similar with a text editor but grew tired switching screens or tabs. A notebook is also a bit more accessible than a laptop when y…

Unless you have a good tablet, like the most recent Surface Pro or iPad. Writing on them feels very good, almost no noticeable lag. That's what finally replaced physical note-taking for me.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#66

Post by jungletime »

I've been using Typora to make my todo lists recently. It's a markdown editor. Super simple to type, and you can really got some professional looking layout, with headings and titles quickly too. Recently they built in a file browser. Open one file in a directory, and it will show you all the files in side panel. Which in my case are just todo lists for day of the week. But it could be any type of notes. Highly recommend it. For Example typing ###Title would give a large title typing - [ ] will give you a checkbox, and so on.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#67

Post by cholantesh »

swah wrote: post #61
JAFTEM wrote: post #41

Surprised no one has mentioned doing this in a physical notebook with a pen. I started doing what the author describes a long time ago to document bugs to come back to later. I soon realized it's just a good way to keep my thoughts organized and be more productive. I tried doing something similar with a text editor but grew tired switching screens or tabs. A notebook is also a bit more accessible than a laptop when y…

Most likely you love high quality notebooks and writing instruments, and you probably have neat handwriting. I rather have files that I can understand later, and easily grep as a bonus... (I do admit that crossing done tasks on a piece of paper feels very good.)

I would love for a decent midpoint solution, ie, a way to digitize my notes. A livescribe would be nice, but the issue is that my handwriting is...not too great. I can understand it,certainly, but I'm not sure it would escape OCR unscathed.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#68

Post by fao_ »

bramen wrote: post #29
fao_ wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any ideas on how to adapt this to someone who doesn't have a "present" internal monologue? If I concentrate, I can sense something akin to the typical "internal monologue", but it isn't present enough to be copied down, and even when it is it tends to move so fast that I only really get the conclusion.

Interesting, when you think about something you don't ever hear yourself talking it out inside your head?

I can hear small parts of it now and then, and I can definitely 'hear' myself read and write text, but most thought doesn't pass through my internal monologue. I can't tell if it's because it's going too fast (Which is certainly possible), or because of some other reason.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#69

Post by k_sze »

50CNT wrote: post #64
swah wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most likely you love high quality notebooks and writing instruments, and you probably have neat handwriting. I rather have files that I can understand later, and easily grep as a bonus... (I do admit that crossing done tasks on a piece of paper feels very good.)

I like to think of blank pages as mini whiteboards. With a multifunction copier i can print out lined, grid paper or specialty layouts and whip it through the scanner once im done with it keeping a digital copy. 3USD buys me 500 pages, and with a laser printer [250USD], toner refill kit, etc. that comes out to less than a cent a page, or 3 cents if I amortize the printer over 10k pages (assuming it breaks once it hit…

“I like to think of blank pages as mini whiteboards.”

This. I never enjoyed drawing diagrams in Inkscape, though my boss swears by it.

I’d much rather draw with pens on paper and then digitise by scanning.

Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming

#70

Post by bramen »

fao_ wrote: post #68
bramen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, when you think about something you don't ever hear yourself talking it out inside your head?

I can hear small parts of it now and then, and I can definitely 'hear' myself read and write text, but most thought doesn't pass through my internal monologue. I can't tell if it's because it's going too fast (Which is certainly possible), or because of some other reason.

Could be you're a more visual thinker?
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