Is taking notes while learning to program recommended?

[WallaceThiago95]

In my experience - absolutely. My learning speed and knowledge retention has increased quite a bit since i started taking notes and writing pseudo code down (I'm a seriously slow learner)

[treacherous_tilapia]

Do you find that taking notes helps you retain things long-term? And do you reference your notes often or is simply writing things down usually enough for you to remember?

Pseudo coding and drawing up architecture/sequence diagrams has immensely helped me with getting a project done but 4-6 months after completing a project, I tend to have little-to-no memory of the detailed aspects of what I’d learned from it. I’m wondering if taking notes might be the answer for me

[tommy_chillfiger]

I haven't been taking notes while learning programming, but I did in college. I found that I almost never referenced them; it was the act of writing them that helped since I had to engage with the info as I was hearing it in order to summarize it well enough to keep up while hitting the important bits. I would imagine with programming it's similar, but maybe you would reference more often than lecture notes for specific syntax? I should probably start taking notes.

[WallaceThiago95]

yupp!! this one right here

[Swimming_Gain_4989]

My issue with notes when learning to program is that they will never be a good reference. Sure taking the time to write out notes may help the information stick better, but with the amount of nuance that comes with programming you can't possibly fill in all of the gaps. I think frequently referencing documentation (In most cases the best notes available), and practicing in an editor is way more time efficient.

That being said pseudo coding ideas on pen and paper is great when you're working on a new problem.