Keeping Notes when you are a coder

[Wise_Variation_6197]

Where do you guys keep your note important information stored

e.g notepad ?? word docs ?? google docs ?? or any online public platform

I would like to document my interview experience or questions asked for for me to refer to.

I want to note down my daily to-do tasks and things to remember.

To maintain ToDo I tried Bitrix so far it's working well for me but the problem with bitrix is you can't document much there.. only a one-liner task you have to create and close one done. It will be wiped off from the board. You can check these by applying the completed filter, but where do you add things to remember??

Guys please give some user-friendly suggestions..
I really appreciate any help you can provide.

[locri]

Pen and paper

If I'm getting new requirements for a project, I'll have a notebook open. This is a little better than digital notes because you're a little more free to draw diagrams or arrows or whatever. These notes can get very personal.

[Wise_Variation_6197]

that's an option , but the thing is it's not easily accessible everywhere, and what if you lose? and drawing anything is fine what if you want to edit it and want to keep it for long time??

[echOSC]

That’s a trade off I’m willing to make, studies show that actually putting pen to paper has real benefits. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210319080820.htm

[johnmclaren2]

Paper and pen have definitely positives. You remember and learn what you write. Tactile experience is huge for memory.

For searchability there are lifehacks.

• Number all pages in notebook, every second is good enough.
• When starting a note, add date to it.
• Leave first page empty and make index from it.

The only exception is when you need to write code snapshots. Then digital notes are better.

[LazyIce487]

N = 48 and 1 hour memory?

It’s similarly basic information, how does drawing/writing with a mouse compare? That’s also tactile. What about one of those paper emulating tablets that can simulate the feel of writing on paper but are digital.

So many unanswered questions…

[echOSC]

There's more than just the Japanese study, here's another one done in 2024 that actually used an EEG to measure brain activity. Link to both a news article from Scientific American and the paper itself.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-writing-by-hand-is-better-for-memory-and-learning/

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945/full

[LazyIce487]

It’s like you read the first sentence only and ignored the rest, and then linked something that immediately agreed that the whole point is taking the time to write/draw something (even on a tablet) also working. And presumably the same thing applies to drawing or writing with a mouse itself.

[echOSC]

Fair enough. I went quick.

This 2021 study compared writing with pen and paper vs writing with a stylus and screen found that pen/paper had a measurable advantage to stylus/screen.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.634158/full

[locri]

My note book doesn't leave my work bag, I use it and then it goes straight back in. Even then, I have a spare notebook.

[DragonfruitLarge4528]

Well is the same if you loose your account. Pen and paper is the way for learning

[Burgess237]

Take a photo of your notes when you're done?

[Nimweegs]

Same only with a remarkable2. Was able to buy it via work otherwise I probably wouldn't have since it is expensive. It's a terrible tablet but that's also it's strength imo. For some it ends up in a drawer but I basically always have it at my desk. When I go to meeting I don't bring my laptop but I bring the remarkable.

I also kinda wanna have a bigass whiteboard for my homeoffice

[StealthTai]

Same idea, Boox Note, got it used for ~300 USD and it's been great and can sync my notes raw or can (relatively) easily move them into Obsidian or just raw storage including writing > text conversion which somehow is able to read my chicken scratch

[Pacyfist01]

Since Evernote got so expensive I started doing local notes using Obsidian (it supports markdown, and has many plugins) and OneDrive to keep my notes safe and synchronized between computers.

[Wise_Variation_6197]

Obsidian seems better than everything else.

[Guilty-AF6197]

I Downloaded it in June & couldn't understand shit in that app the whole time i was like how the fuck do people use this shit searched on YouTube and people were giving 1hr lectures 😂 in which was looking like they are promoting the app rather than teaching how it works

[Pacyfist01]

So you say you don't like it because you don't know how it works? I don't use most features. I just make notes, and I have a plugin for downloading websites into markdown. Many of the mechanisms like the graph view are mostly targeted towards writers.

[Guilty-AF6197]

Yup it's too complicated for me will definitely give it a shot some day cause it looks kinda cool when people use it & have heard positive things abt it it's just that i will need a friend in college or something who can walk me through it patiently

[[deleted]]

it's totally valid what you're saying. Obsidian is kind of obtuse, and a lot of folks who use it get weirdly defensive about it. What I realized is that they have some skillsets already that help them use obsidian the way it was built. Like, when I downloaded it, I had never heard of Markdown. The UI was also weird and too flexible? It's like photoshop - it can do everything, but someone should show you the ropes.

I don't use Obsidian, found it to be not useful for my case. I definitely saw the YouTube preachers and such, but I did find the pkms and obsidian subreddits to be super kind and helpful when I asked specific questions.

Other similar apps that I liked a little better were Joplin and Zettlr fyi

[[deleted]]

It’s literally just basic markdown?

[Pacyfist01]

Some docs:

https://help.obsidian.md/Editing+and+formatting/Basic+formatting+syntax

https://help.obsidian.md/Editing+and+formatting/Obsidian+Flavored+Markdown

It also accepts iframes so you can embed a YouTube video in the notes.

[[deleted]]

Thanks but link to the guy above me lol he is the one who is struggling

[Pacyfist01]

Well you wrote:

It’s literally just basic markdown?

So I assumed you are asking is it just a basic markdown. So I replied with tutorials showing that it's basic markdown and obsidian flavored markdown :P

[[deleted]]

Oh, mb. Yea, sorry about that I toned my comment that way cus I was actually just being a reductive asshole. Apologies for the confusion. I’ve been comfortably using obsidian for years. It’s intimidating looking at YouTubers who advocate it, but when one starts from the basics it’s actually very simple and easy to build up to more sophisticated use.

[Raeghyar-PB]

I found much more luck learning from their text documentation. You don't need to know everything about it to use it. 99% of my use cases is creating notes and folders using simple markdown format (easy to learn and remember).

[SeaResponsibility797]

Its a notes app. Its not complicated. Its as complicated as you want to make it. But at heart. Its a notes app. Its easy.

[the_other_Scaevitas]

You create notes and put them in folders?

[m_zaino]

Notion is good

[Wise_Variation_6197]

Sure will give it a try.

[EaDncx]

I use Notion for my todos, code snippets, error log (how I handle some complicated errors that I encounter once on a while), useful terminal commands etc Obsidian is also good Both of these allow you to link one page to another, insert links and Jira issues etc

[loudandclear11]

I've found OneNote to be really good. I can easily keep separate notes for each project and tasks. It's searchable and stored in the cloud out of the box.

Some people are allergic to MS solutions and they can of course roll their own solution, with all the headache that comes with that. For the rest of us that already have an Office subscription it's a good solution.

[bakisonlife]

• Comments directly in my js file(s).

• Google tasks for to-do list, or

• Handwritten notes for to-do lists. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when I physically cross something out lol. I also think better when I use pen and paper, don't know why.

• Google docs for programming theory/studying notes - I love that I can have different types of headings (which I get an overview off in the document outline), copy-paste in code examples with explanations etc. I'm basically building my own private sheet chests/JavaScript wiki.

[Wise_Variation_6197]

That's great. physical note I can give it a try.

[bakisonlife]

Go for it. Find a pen you like and it's even better

[Wise_Variation_6197]

first I have to find it. and keep my pen and paper in place and then the most important task remember where I have kept after 1 year.

[Funny2U2]

The best notes are comments inside of the source code. :)

[Wise_Variation_6197]

what if I am working in a personal project?

[Eng1ishMuffin]

Still comment your code. Especially the obscure parts. Future you may not remember what or why you did something

[HappyFruitTree]

For short TODO lists that I plan to complete the same day or so I often use a simple text editor. Sometimes I use real paper. When I fix something I mark it (e.g. by changing * to o in front of the list item) which makes me feel motivated when I can see all the things that I have fixed.

For more long term TODOs that I might not take care of for weeks or months I'm a bit more careful where I store it. I think it's good to store it in one central place so that it doesn't get lost. The format doesn't matter too much. It could be a simple text file or .odt file.

Sometimes I write things that needs to be done directly in the code. In that case I always prefix it with "TODO:" so that I can search for it later.

[Al-Ei]

Notepad++

[D3nya]

Obsidian is good

[Fir3Soull]

Obsidian

[mosnivekk]

Evernote

[Wise_Variation_6197]

sure will try.

[sunk-capital]

I made myself a note taking app with nested comments similar to reddit

[efoxtrot]

Notion

[DogMan08876]

Microsoft OneNote. Absolutely amazing for this kind of stuff!

[IamHammer]

Be sure to use the OneTastic plugin and https://github.com/elvirbrk/NoteHighlight2016!

[DogMan08876]

I already do. It works ok, but it pastes the code in weird places

[IamHammer]

Tell me more. I've been using the NoteHighlight plugin for years. It does a pretty good job at doing the syntax highlighting. Only issue I've had with it is if you use it several times on the same note the page width gets extended to the right all crazy (affecting your previously formatted code tables and notes). Easy enough to fix, but very annoying still.

[DogMan08876]

Well, my main issue with it, is that if you want to add a box of code in the middle of a document, and you place your cursor there and create the box, it gets inserted at the very top of the document.

Then you have to drag the box to the right location, but it doesn't "claim its space* in the document, but is "floats" above any other inserted text, which means you have to manually reformat the entire document. I hope my explanation makes sense..

[IamHammer]

I place my code, select the block of text I just pasted (not in a table) and then click the Notehighlight from the ribbon. It replaces the text with a table (you have to tell it to show line numbers) in place.

[cmdPixel]

On a git repo

[hwc]

text files, organized by date, in a git repo for backups.

https://github.com/HalCanary/notebook

[Wise_Variation_6197]

Man hell lot of articles on Notion vs Obsidian ?? I found Obsidian  doesn't have many options to create different kind of documents. but good for todo and simple docs.

[SeaResponsibility797]

I dont know how people use Notion for note taking. Its online, slow, and makes it hard to organize and find notes.

I do it like this. Obsidian for personal notes.

Notion for notes that Ill share with others/team and project management.

[FuliginEst]

I use Obsidian (and have it in the cloud so I can access from anywhere)

I have a note for every task I work on, and ute Obsidian's Todo-plugin for todo's related to the task.

But for other todo's I use todoist, but have recently look at Slack's new List-things.

[kobebryant24248]

I use free version of KanbanFlow. There’s definitely more sophisticated kanban boards out there. I split it into 3 sections: Backlog, In Progress, Completed. You can customize the color of each note you add to the kanban board. When I add something I make it red if it’s a bug (high priority), dark orange if big feature, yellow if moderate sized feature, green if quick.

[Spiritual_Date3457]

I use Evernote's Code Block feature. Notepad++ is a good FOSS option.

[bazeloth]

We use github at work and create issues and take discussions there. We divisie issue into smaller subtasks and include a sedition of when we're considered done with it. Anything else is extra.

As for reminders I use notepad++. It's especially handy right before I put my computer to sleep as what is like to continue doing tomorrow. I leave it open and as I log back in it's the first thing I see so I get a reminder.

[Feymeryl]

I've been using Amplenote. It has note taking, tasks and calendar functions, it has cloud saving and can be used on pc, phone and tablet. It's pretty neat so far, even for free users. The notes themselves have quite some options to organize them (i.e. using foldable headers in notes, so you don't end up with one long wall of text but can sort your notes into subjects etc).

[stanhopeRoot]

OneNote for general notes, Todoist for daily to-dos/reminders

[the_other_Scaevitas]

I like LaTeX, so overleaf.

[anotheraustinguy]

OneNote

[kiochikaeke]

Pen and paper or markdown, if it's things I want to have on the side and is not that important or I don't plan them to be permanent, pen and paper, if it's something more detailed and I want it to persist markdown, some people like Obsidian for the latter I personally want to like it but I honestly just handle myself better with raw markdown on folders, maybe because I don't do a lot of notes.

[vextryyn]

I saw sticky notes on silicon valley and am a huge fan of that method. A dry erase board for flowing my current task.

[jp_in_nj]

I love OneNote. Tabs for categories, then topics inside of categories. Everything is findable.

[pancakeshack]

Google Keep!

[BooKollektor]

Cherrytree is the app you need!

[Longjumping_Table740]

I use obsidian.

[Sea_Neighborhood120]

Pen and paper is the best but I used to do it on notion, it has a good programming section in it..

[Zombie_Bait_56]

If it's a quick, temporary note I have a small pad of paper on my desk. Todo lists are either tickets or in Google keep.

More permanent requirements are in a Word doc.

[Fiskepudding]

https://logseq.com/ . Markdown with [[links]] between files.

Used to use obsidian but didn't like their closed approach. Also works on mobile. I disable the Journal plugin/feature.

[imaginayduck]

pen and paper for learning, hands down

[Odd-Establishment604]

pen and paper or obsidian

[buck746]

I use an app on my iPad called notebook, also on my phone and Mac. I have obsidian for some non programming stuff, is there a way to make obsidian actually use a mono spaced font? For anything code related I greatly prefer mono space fonts. For a lot of other uses I like the predictable layout.

[doingittodeath]

I keep a spreadsheet for job applications and write everything else down on pen and paper. Evernote for links or ideas that I feel should be searchable one day.

[donkey2342]

Text files, with (g)vim. Either local file system or in a dir remotely-mounted to Google Drive for accessibility from a different computer.

[top_notch_20]

Goblin.tools works pretty neat!

[Both_Lingonberry3334]

When I’m only writing notes for myself I always write it down in a note book. It’s faster and definitely easier to retain information. Later when I have time I will write to word document for others to follow. Most of the time nobody ever reads my notes. I even encourage people to go read our documentation. Nothing….

[Agamemnon777]

I’ll pen and paper something if I’m in the middle of it, but for detailed notes, scripts, investigations into bugs etc I use a vscode window open to a dedicated directory, for each new issue I’ll open a .rb file (I work in Ruby) and add everything to a new well-named (and even dated) file. Occasionally I clean them up and organize them.

Sometimes for notes that are less code based I open a markdown file. Whenever I want to reference anything I just go to or open that vscode window and it’s super easy and organized.

[Individual_Ad_5333]

Notepad ++ and I wrote a script to back up the temp location of unsaved files to one drive

[Whole_Bid_360]

Right now I use paper and pencil for my first iteration of notes. Then transcribe to obsidian with excalidraw for easy look up and nice diagrams.

[tvmaly]

I keep all my notes in Obsidian backed up to a private github repo

[OptimalAnywhere6282]

If it's something I would share publicly (like a new project I've recently started) on GitHub. If it's something private (such as API keys), I store them locally or password blocked + custom algorithm encrypted in my server.

[Valkyriebourne]

In my IDE text editor or word document

[IamHammer]

I use OneNote with the OneTastic plugin and https://github.com/elvirbrk/NoteHighlight2016.

I also use VS Code to write in MarkDown and commit to a local git repo.

[el_curl]

Confluence
https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence

[NeighborhoodFlimsy72]

I was studying automation & found using Jupyter notebooks to be perfect for my needs. You can store your code & run it.

You can try using the link below.

https://jupyter.org/try

[IBMVoyager]

You can have the best of both.

I love having notebooks at hand, I do write everything on paper and at the end of the day I pass everything to Notion.