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General Discussion

Posted by Eliot Winchell
Eliot Winchell
8,341 Points

Should I stop taking so many notes?

Hi there! So for my first track I took notes on just about everything, but I rarely even go back to those. I am now starting a track on iOS Development, and I've been noticing that it takes me twice as much time to do the deep dives because I'm taking notes and I'm starting to think that maybe it's not a good idea. I also re-write everything on the screen into my computer so should I use that for references instead in the future? How do you take notes? Thanks, Eliot

1 Answer

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points
James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

Here's my basic process:

  1. Watch the videos
  2. Take notes on the important concepts as well as syntax using Markdown
  3. Refer back to your notes about syntax when doing the code challenges
  4. At the end of each badge build a little something for practice using the concepts you've just learned on codepen for CSS stuff or runnable for Ruby stuff.

The real trick is to remember what's possible and how to reference it. So when I can't remember the exact syntax of a CSS property, I consult a CSS quick reference which I keep in my bookmark bar for handy reference. And for Ruby syntax this is a handy reference

This topic has been dicussed a few times in this forum here are 2 great threads on the topic:

I do most of note taking on programming stuff using markdown, so I on Windows I use Markdown Pad, on OS X iA Writer is the way to go.

Another method I like is to use SimpleNotes which also supports Markdown, it's great if you have lots of Markdown files say one before video or one per badge instead of one per course. On Windows there' ResophNotes and on a Mac there's Notational Velocity both support SimpleNotes.

Eliot Winchell
Eliot Winchell
8,341 Points

so basically I should take notes on the computer rather than on the computer and on paper? I think that's a good idea and I'm gonna try that, thanks!