John Wick

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How to Take Technical Notes

14 Jul, 2023
1 min (167 words)

What are Technical Notes

During development or when reading books and blogs, we often forget things shortly after seeing them. Many people choose note-taking software like Notion or Obsidian to record what they’ve learned - these are technical notes.

Why You Shouldn’t Take Notes

Some people hold the view that note-taking is unnecessary, believing that most books we read in our lifetime are meaningless, or that you can easily find the knowledge you need through search engines without even needing to bookmark them. Indeed, many people rarely look at their notes a second time after taking them.

Should You Take Notes or Not

My personal view, specifically for programmers, is yes - but with several principles:

  1. Notes should follow your own thought process, processed and summarized for output, making it easy to trace back in your mind;

  2. Notes aren’t just for recording knowledge, but can also include problems, thought processes, etc.;

  3. Notes should be easily searchable - I believe using Obsidian well solves this problem.

Posted at 14 Jul, 2023