When I started my self-learning boot camp experience, I lived for Google Docs. That was my go-to for note-taking. I have so many documents for ever...
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
I keep a "cheatsheets" folder on my desktop full of markdown files on various subjects. I know that physically wrotong things down is better for retention, but the tradeoff in favor of editability and organization works very well for me.
That was exactly what I was going for. I wanted something that I could edit and that would be as organized as possible. I got it, but I wasn't retaining anything. Maybe I could start physically typing out my notes instead.
I encourage you to try and see if it works out for you, its much better to organize it and for me is pretty good to retain the information too. But you need to type it the same way you would write with pen and paper
Yeah, you definitely have the right idea in NOT copy-pasting, I always try to paraphrase things as much as possible to force me to think about the concept more.
Yep! Paraphrasing is key because I don't have time to write down every little word LOL!
I write them in markdown files and upload them to github. They are basically drafts for future blog post. For me the "magic" comes when I actually turn them into blog posts, because I want to make sure everything I say is accurate, I search for multiple sources (and include the links). I mention edge cases that may arise. I try my best to explain things in a simple way. Make sure every code snippet actually runs and gives the expected result. For me, all that effort help the information stay in my brain.
After I'm done creating the blog post I usually upload it to github pages (with some fancy tools) where it can live as a static website anyone can visit. Also share the content here on dev.to.
Personally, I'm a fan of Samantha Ming. She has a lot of content on her site of the things she has learned. And the cool thing is, the site has a search bar, so it's easy to look for specific content.
Quick update: dev.to has a handy filter that allows you to search a term in your own posts.
You know, I am guilty of not utilizing Github that often and I think that your way is a great way of using it. Thanks for mentioning Samantha, I am going to check her out! :)
I can personally vouch for this. I attribute a lot of my learning and progress to taking down notes - at least in the beginning. I can't help but write down my own experience in response to your post. You're the inspiration! I hope you don't mind me sharing here: dev.to/karladampilag/dear-code-new...
Hey Karla! That is so awesome that you can relate. And no, I do not mind at all! I was hoping to inspire someone with this post. :)
You totally right about trying to not copy-paste and to rewrite it ourselves.
On last October, someone mentioned Digital garden and Zettelkasten keywords in a dev.to comment.
That just blow my mind and change my life.
It takes me some time doing research, and trying things but finally, I have the system that fit me totally and that's precisely based on the fact that you should not copy and paste information but rewrite it with your own words.
Really, if you never heard about Zettelkasten, you should really take a look into it.
I had been a long journey to have my own implementation that fit my needs and my personal tastes, but finally I've got it (vim/markdown/git/gocryptfs).
If interested don't hesitate to ask questions, I could have some notes I could share to you on this 😅
Omg! Thank you for mentioning this! I can’t wait to check them out! 😁
I have a folder with a lot of cheatsheets of the problems I encounter or processes that were a bit annoying and lengthy. All this is in MD usually using MarkText or Typora or Macdown.
As for when I'm in meeting with clients or planning development I use the good old pen and paper or whiteboard. It's very practical to make things visuals. If I need to draw while on call to show the client I usually use excalidraw.com/
I switched to handwritten notes, but on an iPad with Apple Pencil. I use an app called GoodNotes, where I keep folders and notebooks. One of the app's features is that it has global search, even for handwritten notes. So, I get to handwrite them still and retain them better, but since the app has global search, I can just search for something, update it and all is well.
I moved my to-do list out of apps and used this for those as well. I find that handwriting them and then marking them as done by highlighting gave me better satisfaction than just simply ticking them off as checkboxes :)
Hey B., that is an awesome idea! Now, I have another reason to invest in the Apple Pencil for my iPad. I am going to download this app because it sounds awesome. Thanks for your comment!!
The first step to taking good notes in class is to come to class prepared. Here are some steps you can take to improve your note-taking before class even begins: black magic to make someone fall in love with you
Honestly I never took notes. I always followed along on the tutorials and then tried doing it my self and refactoring it and made it my own. I guess I am paying for it that way cause know I don't have notes to create the articles/blog posts.
I think when we start out teaching ourselves to code, we are in the trial and error phase. And as we keep going, we figure out what works for us and what does not. It sucks, but at least we now know what to do going forward lol.
I went through so many apps and methods of note taking in school and at work. I finally settled on keep txt files in my IDE. ex: for work I have a file marked QA. Within that directory, I have files for each project I'm working on with meeting notes from each project person within their projects. I summarize from those notes into a TODO list at the root of QA for my tasks with time frames and use the notes within each section to guide each task. Since I generally have VSCode open anyway, one more window isn't a big deal. I also keep various SE scripts in a folder there as well and can grab and past into terminal to run reports or do minor support work.
Yeah I do, It's really useful. I use Joplin app.
I am going to check out that app! Thanks Sajad!! :)
It's opensource and using end to end encryption and you can backup on dropbox, also has mobile and desktop app, It's the perfect app!
Nice 😄 , Pen and Paper is best and fast way to take notes. But digital software like Google docs, notepad etc are best when you want to turn your notes into a polished article or blog post.
I agree. And I think that that's an awesome idea. I have a ton of digital notes that I can turn into blog posts. Thanks Shaiju :)
Cool 😃 I think this is the best way to learn 😁
Sometimes, going old school is the best school LOL! *corny joke, I know :D