Using a logbook to improve your programming
1–10 of 75 posts
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#2This article seems lacking some examples. I have found that such ideas are nice in theory, but when it comes to practice, they tend to fall short.
So the author says that it's a good idea to write logbooks, and that it will help. But no mention on how it would help, and what would you actually do with them after you write them up.
A few concrete examples would have been nice.
If the idea is to help you solve the problem more efficiently, why should it be formalized? as opposed to scribbling notes on a notepad that you throw away at the end of the day.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#3I have similar ideas. At the beginning (20 years ago) I use windows notepad.exe. It has a trick that if you put “.LOG” on the top of a txt file, every time you open it with notepad, it appends current date to it. Later on I switched to Evernote, then Apple Notes.app and settled.
Recently I added a service with Automator to allow me insert current date to a note. Quite convenient.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#4Keeping a journal is particularly useful to resume your work.
Before lunch, or a meeting, or end of day, or when someone interrupts me and needs something, or any form of break, I "serialize" what I am working on in the journal, and then I read it when I am coming back.
In this way I can keep my mind clear and focus in the next activity.
It is also useful for standup meetings, retrospective meetings, etc... when you often need to describe what you did yesterday or this week.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#5I have similar ideas. At the beginning (20 years ago) I use windows notepad.exe. It has a trick that if you put “.LOG” on the top of a txt file, every time you open it with notepad, it appends current date to it. Later on I switched to Evernote, then Apple Notes.app and settled. Recently I added a service with Automator to allow me insert current date to a note. Quite convenient.
F5 inserts the current date / time in Notepad.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#6Emacs org-mode is great for this.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#7In between commit messages, bugs and design docs, I'm not sure what I'd put in a log book.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#8I keep a log of things I don't really know but should invest some time in to learn it properly as I make use of it. That's quite useful, not so much the log, but the forced awareness of making a mental note. I've also been thinking of keeping a log (repo with notes) of the incremental experiments I do when learning things.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#9Emacs org-mode is great for this.
As is vimwiki, for those on the other side of the fence.
Re: Using a logbook to improve your programming
#10In between commit messages, bugs and design docs, I'm not sure what I'd put in a log book.
- The logic/design of parts of the code base which you might newly encounter
- What work was done for the day, yes you might use something like Jira but a journal can be also good at the same time
- New things you learn.
etc etc etc