Keep a programming journal

Post by donut » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 5:04 AM UTC

aero142 wrote: post #83

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…

Speaking of pen and paper... When I was in college, Dijkstra had given a talk for the class a few years before his death, and my instructor passed out his notes. They were on a non-ruled piece of paper with perfectly drawn bullet points for each item. If he made a mistake, he would scratch the word out with a near perfect rectangle. The neatness and clarity was striking. I think it was the only handout in my entire t…

Post by FrojoS » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 6:14 AM UTC

pingswept wrote: post #11

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 t…

Post by edu » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 8:05 AM UTC

autotravis wrote: post #26

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…

"If the notebook is bound (can't add or remove pages), with pre-numbered pages (proves no pages added or removed)..." Does anyone know of a good place to get an inexpensive (and leatherless) one of these? I would say any notebook would work, but I haven't ran on to many with numbered pages.

Post by expralitemonk » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 1:26 PM UTC

Glide wrote: post #79

Johngibb wrote: post #37

I've been doing this as well. Does anyone have advice on pens? This is what I'm currently using and I really like them: http://amzn.com/B0027AEKJ8 they come in a 4 pack of different thicknesses, and are only $12 at Staples. I'm sure there's better however!

I got a fountain pen when I wanted to improve my own handwriting just to see what is so different about them. I bought a Lamy Al-Star pen, a converter, and a bottle of ink. I would never use an ordinary ballpoint pen if I can help it. Writing with a fountain pen seems so much easier than writing with other pens.

Post by mej10 » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 1:38 PM UTC

meej wrote: post #61

mbreese wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean, what the iPad isn't good for... if you try to use it as a notebook, you'll fail. It just isn't very good for that type of application. I know some people that like to type notes (laptop or tablet), but most people I'm around still take notes with a regular pen and paper. Then again, I'm a scientist and we are trained from the beginning to keep a good lab notebook. If it isn't in the notebook, it did…

Which iPad note-taking apps have you tried? There are definitely a lot of terrible ones out there. Notability, however, is absolutely fantastic. I've been using it with a Cosmonaut stylus since late May and I haven't used a paper notebook since. Rather than failure, it's exceeded all my expectations. The only missing feature is handwriting recognition, and well, I wouldn't have that with paper, either.