Introduction
Hello! 😀 In this post I will explain my reasons why I keep a dev diary and why it will benefit you in your dev life.
Reasons to keep a dev diary
My personal reasons for keeping a dev diary are as follows:
- I use it to plan my TODOs for the day
- It allows me to memorise the increasing number of API keys etc
- Any errors I encounter I note them down as well as how I solved the issue
- By jotting down any errors, you can use the search feature to find the same error if you encounter it in the future. Sort of like a personal Stack Overflow.
- It allows me to note any ideas for future reference
- Allows me to keep track of time/progress and any unfinished tasks
- It notifies me the next day of what leftover tasks still need to be completed
- It gives future me a laugh, when I look back at the memo's I wrote a year ago 😅
How I lay out my dev diary
I always start with the day's TODO/s, ordered from the most important to the least important.
Then I give each todo a separate heading, I then actually start working on the todo, noting anything important including any problems/errors etc I encounter. Any problems encountered I always right the solution and how I solved it as well as tagging the error for future reference.
At the end I write what still needs to be done and what I need to do Tomorrow.
The software I use to do this used to be Evernote, but recently I've switched to a tool called "Joplin" which is free to use and open source. Notes can also be backed up to DropBox/Self Hosted Server.
Conclusion
Here I have shared my reasons why every dev should keep a dev diary. I've personally been keeping a diary for over 2 years now, yes it does take time to update it etc. But I feel for that time used my performance has sky rocketed. 😎
Please feel free to share if you keep a dev diary, if you do please give me your reasons for keeping one.
Happy Coding! 🤓