Keeping lab notes as a software developer
- 1. @jammycakes Keeping lab notes as a software developer James McKay
- 2. âPrefer working software over comprehensive documentationâ The Agile Manifesto
- 3. âIf it hurts, do it more oftenâ Martin Fowler
- 4. Layered architecture aka âbaklava codeâ
- 5. How many places do I have to change to add a column to the database? ⤠Entity Framework models ⤠Repository ⤠Service ⤠Business models ⤠DTOs ⤠ViewModels ⤠Views ⤠Tests ⤠Angular.js services, factories, providers ⤠ServiceFactoryProviderProviders ⤠You have ruined JavaScript!
- 6. âWhat did I do last time?â
- 7. You may also have asked⌠⤠Iâve had this problem before, what did I do to solve it? ⤠What have I already tried attempting to ďŹx this? ⤠Iâve just been brought onto this project, what does it do and how is it structured? ⤠Why is this code designed the way that it is?
- 8. My approach
- 9. Treat it likeTDD ⤠Think about what youâre going to do ⤠Write down what youâre going to do ⤠Then do it ⤠Then write down the outcome ⤠Lather, rinse, repeat!
- 11. Benefits ⤠Documentation becomes easier ⤠Clarity of thought to your work ⤠Easier to come back to a task thatâs been on hold for a few days ⤠Easier to hand over to other team members ⤠An audit trail if things go wrong
- 13. Tips ⤠Use the most low friction solution that you can ⤠Write down what youâre going to do before you do it ⤠Phrase it as âI did thisâŚâ ⤠Make your notes append-only ⤠Refer back to them!
- 14. You cannot be too detailed ⤠Record all command line instructions that you run ⤠Record the output, but edit for clarity if appropriate ⤠Learn from your mistakes!
- 15. Teamwork ⤠When pair programming, one of you writes code, the other writes notes ⤠Share your notes with the whole team ⤠DONâT make them public. They may contain security sensitive information.
- 16. For further information ⤠https://jamesmckay.net/tag/lab-notes ⤠http://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/students/teaching/ teachingďŹles/keepnotes-08.pdf ⤠Or search Google for âhow to keep lab notesâ