Tools for Taking Notes

• Learn markdown
  • Markdown lets you easily take notes on code because it lets you format code properly
  • Video mini-course on Markdown
• Choose a note taking tool that lets you write in markdown
  • VS Code as a Markdown note-taking app
  • Typora
  • Notion (that’s the app that created the page you’re viewing now)
  • Boost Note

Note-taking How-to

While reading blogs, docs or watching videos

• Jot down important ideas you want to remember — a phrase to jog your memory is enough
• Note important code instructions for getting something running (e.g. how to start a new Django project with a Postgres database)
• Type out code examples
  • Use comments to remind yourself what the code does and any important tips
  • Bonus: run code to try it out, if you can do it easily, and take notes on your observations of what the code does
• Note things you don't know or want to do more research on (a separate list for these things might be helpful — like, a “TO LEARN LATER”)

While reading code

• Write down questions you have as you go (include file and line number) instead of getting bogged down

• Jot down code syntax or patterns you want to try out yourself, or want to understand better

• write notes summarizing how something works after you have figured it out

  • example:

  # How does `render_resource` work?
  
  - this method is defined in the RenderResource module
  - its arguments are ...
  - it returns ...  
  - it's useful because...