Show HN: I've been writing daily TILs for a year(github.com)
github.com
Show HN: I've been writing daily TILs for a year
https://github.com/jbranchaud/til
155 comments
Everyone at my company really got behind the idea of TILs too, so we created a little web app for it -- https://til.hashrocket.com/
Any chance this is open source? Would love to set this up for my office
We recently open-sourced it. Let us know what you think!
https://github.com/hashrocket/hr-til
https://github.com/hashrocket/hr-til
I like it but upgrading ruby to the required 2.3 from 1.9 that comes with Ubuntu 14.04 turned out to be a daunting process. The 2.3 build was at least 15 min with several errors, and then bundler wouldn't work. I wiped everything ruby and will try again with RVM. It seems like over kill for such a simple app. I am not a RoR guy and my first impression is not very good compared to other server apps I've installed, or maybe I just need more patience!
I thing everybody in the Ruby world uses either RVM or chruby/ruby-install.
Or rbenv.
I've had great success using Brightbox's Ruby PPAs https://launchpad.net/~brightbox/+archive/ubuntu/ruby-ng. Might want to give them a try first.
This worked! Just a couple of problems. Hashrocket needs dev version of Ruby and pg wouldn't build, but StackOverflow told me I needed to install libpq-dev. Then I had to install postgres, but wasn't hard.
Tried messing around with it, but bundler dies every time :/
awesome idea! Thank you for that.
I think coderwall have share protip model,
https://coderwall.com/
However, there is fundamental difference in representation.
However, there is fundamental difference in representation.
Meh, I think I'll skip the ah-ha moments of my coworkers who don't ask themselves "yeah, how else would you do it when you have already specified the precision?" https://til.hashrocket.com/posts/9c43748955-be-aware-postgre...
Can I jump-start your list? "Git" is a product name, not an acronym. It's just spelled Git.
(Please forgive me this act of pedantry, as I forgive those who commit pedantry against me...)
(Please forgive me this act of pedantry, as I forgive those who commit pedantry against me...)
I blame that I've been writing "SQL" all day and have unconsciously associated three letter non English words and "Is acronym". (Although I guess "git" is a word, although not typically part of my colloquial vocabulary... Maybe if I was a curmudgeon ~50 years ago as opposed to being a curmudgeon now)
Regardless, your pedantry is excused :)
Regardless, your pedantry is excused :)
> I blame that I've been writing "SQL" all day and have unconsciously associated three letter non English words and "Is acronym".
Hyperpedantically, "SQL" is an initialism, but not an acronym.
Hyperpedantically, "SQL" is an initialism, but not an acronym.
> Hyperpedantically, "SQL" is an initialism, but not an
> acronym
OED's first entry on "acronym, n":
> A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for
> a name or expression, each letter or part being
> pronounced separately; an initialism (such as ATM, TLS)
> A word formed from the initial letters of other words
> or (occas.) from the initial parts of syllables taken
> from other words, the whole being pronounced as a single
> word (such as NATO, RADA)
> The use of initials; a significative group of initial
> letters. Now spec. a group of initial letters used as
> an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter
> or part being pronounced separately
Perhaps even more pedantically, SQL is actually an abbreviation of an acronym. It was originally conceived as SEQUEL for Structured English QUEry Language[0], only being abbreviated to SQL for legal purposes (SEQUEL was already trademarked).
For this, and sheer convenience, I take the stance that it should always be pronounced as "sequel" rather than pronouncing each letter.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL#History
For this, and sheer convenience, I take the stance that it should always be pronounced as "sequel" rather than pronouncing each letter.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL#History
So, on top of this, they have since decided SQL is no longer Structured Query Language--it's just SQL.
Who's that? ANSI or ISO or someone else?
I skimmed the Wikipedia article and didn't notice any mention of removing the initialism. I did find a note that the original language standard did define the "es queue el" pronunciation, but since no one is standards compliant anyway, I think I'll still stick with "sequel" (:
I skimmed the Wikipedia article and didn't notice any mention of removing the initialism. I did find a note that the original language standard did define the "es queue el" pronunciation, but since no one is standards compliant anyway, I think I'll still stick with "sequel" (:
I actually can't find a source. My professor told me back in the day, and that's all I have.
The talk page on Wikipedia has a lot of discussion, including a citation of a book, but I don't have the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ASQL#SQL_Acronym
Someone there also keeps saying that the second reference on the article explicitly says it's not an acronym, but the current second source explicitly says it is, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The talk page on Wikipedia has a lot of discussion, including a citation of a book, but I don't have the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ASQL#SQL_Acronym
Someone there also keeps saying that the second reference on the article explicitly says it's not an acronym, but the current second source explicitly says it is, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks. That's my TIL for today.
TIL what an initialism is and how it differs from an acronym :)
Funnily enough, Chrome is flagging it as a misspelled word, but googling for it brought up its definition in Google's usual definition box.
Funnily enough, Chrome is flagging it as a misspelled word, but googling for it brought up its definition in Google's usual definition box.
Try turning on "Ask Google for Suggestions". That should do the trick.
Normal spellcheck is a dictionary. "Ask" is server-side magic that is context-aware and goes beyond dictionaries. After turning it on, try "icland is an icland" to be amused. Or "Brittaney Spears".
I normally don't go on about this, but since this thread is about TILs... :)
Normal spellcheck is a dictionary. "Ask" is server-side magic that is context-aware and goes beyond dictionaries. After turning it on, try "icland is an icland" to be amused. Or "Brittaney Spears".
I normally don't go on about this, but since this thread is about TILs... :)
I'd suggest google dictionary plugin. Double click on anything on the page and you get the definition as a small popup/tool-tip.
That's how even I learned what Initialism is.
Pronouncing SQL as es-kyoo-el is a rookie mistake. Sequel!
There are varied opinions about this topic. Several Sources of Truth and Righteousness advise against "sequel"[1][2], However it seems that in a certain building in WA "sequel" is preferred [3].
[1] https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/what-is-mysql.html
[2] http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/faq/
[3] https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/fd6...
[1] https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/what-is-mysql.html
[2] http://www.postgresql.org/about/press/faq/
[3] https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/fd6...
Redmond also colloquially refers to the product Microsoft SQL Server as just SQL (pronounced "sequel"), as in, "We're trying sell more SQL licenses," or, "Is the backing DB for your SAP installation Oracle or SQL?"
This has led to some confusion.
Additionally, as I pointed out in a sibling comment up the chain somewhere, SQL is an abbreviation of the original acronym, SEQUEL, for Structured English QUEry Language. It seems with this provenance that the "sequel" pronunciation is more historically correct.
This has led to some confusion.
Additionally, as I pointed out in a sibling comment up the chain somewhere, SQL is an abbreviation of the original acronym, SEQUEL, for Structured English QUEry Language. It seems with this provenance that the "sequel" pronunciation is more historically correct.
Thanks, I did not know about the SEQUEL acronym.
FYI: The difference between an acronym and initialism is that the abbreviation formed with initialisms is not pronounced as a word, rather you say the individual letters, such as FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and DVD (Digital Video Disk*). Edit: Not a criticism, I just I didn't know.
Someone should tell this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EgrY17Ozk
Maybe he wrote it on his MAC before he uploaded to the WEB site.
TUL git != GitHub
When I was first learning UNIX many years ago a grey-beard told me to always keep a spiral bound notebook and pen at my side. It was great advice. Jotting down the arcane commands committed most of them to memory, for the rest my black little spell book held the magical incantation for any situation. I've since gotten away from that habit. Perhaps I should follow this fellow's lead.
I love this technique! I take notes in a small notebook during the day and then look back at in the evening to see if there is anything worth TIL'ing about.
I do this when learning a new language I know I want to know most of the STL of. Of course, most languages have similar functions for strings, lists, etc., but it helps a lot. Currently doing it for Elixir.
This is great.
As an extension, I was discussing with a friend a while ago how great Stackoverflow is at capturing the contents of expert's brains. Is there a way to achieve that on a broader scale without requiring the question-asking side of things? Say you're a lab scientist and you have a small trick or bit of informal insight, how could you be prompted in the right way to share it?
As an extension, I was discussing with a friend a while ago how great Stackoverflow is at capturing the contents of expert's brains. Is there a way to achieve that on a broader scale without requiring the question-asking side of things? Say you're a lab scientist and you have a small trick or bit of informal insight, how could you be prompted in the right way to share it?
Stack Exchange sites would love you to ask the question and then answer it yourself. It's not exactly primary use-case though so I suppose it's not obviously acceptable behaviour.
Anyone here remember Faqomatic [0] ? Remember using it around 2001. Very similar to Stack Exchange except without the karma points.
[0] - http://faqomatic.sourceforge.net/fom-serve/cache/1.html
[0] - http://faqomatic.sourceforge.net/fom-serve/cache/1.html
OP might not have enough karma to answer their own question.
and also tagging it in such a way that it can be found. I have thought about this before too - would be a great supplement to something like wikipedia.
For me, this is all about tracking my personal learning. I reference old posts several times a week. I hope others can learn from it as well!
Really well done and nicely organized. Did you find yourself noticing the overhead of writing these after learning something new? Or did you write them as an afterthought later on? Did you pick certain things to include rather than others?
Defiantly thinking about doing something similar to this sometime soon!!
Defiantly thinking about doing something similar to this sometime soon!!
I generally take about 5 minutes at some point each evening to write up something that I learned that day or earlier that week.
I've always viewed them as being quick and easy to write up which has taken away the intimidation that can come with trying to write a big blog post.
I've always viewed them as being quick and easy to write up which has taken away the intimidation that can come with trying to write a big blog post.
Cool idea! I'll definitely be stealing this. Have you thought of making it searchable or generating a site your posts? Anything you would have wished you had done differently since you started it?
Great idea. Thanks for posting it. I'm motivated to do the same.
My favoriate, check if port is in use:
https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/blob/master/unix/check-if-...
Would be cool, to be able to collaborate and comment on each article. Perhaps, make this entire thing GitHub gists or Wiki?
https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/blob/master/unix/check-if-...
Would be cool, to be able to collaborate and comment on each article. Perhaps, make this entire thing GitHub gists or Wiki?
Pull requests will work there.
Didn't know what a TIL was until just now.
However I've been doing something very similar for over a year now. Its called a Developer Diary. I can't give credit for the talk that gave me this idea but it's without doubt one of the best changes I've made to further myself.
It's the same idea, except the content is not public. I've toyed with the idea but the content is very rough plus includes some very specific details. That said I host the content so it's always in my browser as plain text files, so able to search and navigate easily. I've blogged about the idea before, but however you do it, make notes. Your future self will thank you.
http://blog.shaunfinglas.co.uk/2014/09/developer-diaries.htm...
However I've been doing something very similar for over a year now. Its called a Developer Diary. I can't give credit for the talk that gave me this idea but it's without doubt one of the best changes I've made to further myself.
It's the same idea, except the content is not public. I've toyed with the idea but the content is very rough plus includes some very specific details. That said I host the content so it's always in my browser as plain text files, so able to search and navigate easily. I've blogged about the idea before, but however you do it, make notes. Your future self will thank you.
http://blog.shaunfinglas.co.uk/2014/09/developer-diaries.htm...
> Didn't know what a TIL was until just now.
You’re supposed to say “TIL what a TIL is” :-) .
You’re supposed to say “TIL what a TIL is” :-) .
TIL how I should have said I learned what a TIL is :)
I've been using http://www.devarist.com (which was posted on HN back in August last year) to record little tidbits on an almost daily basis, and it's been working pretty well.
If it's something I have to look up I try to make a habit of putting it in there. Then I can do a search for the search phrase I'd normally make and it pops right up, saves me a lot of time looking through the top couple of documents for the nth time.
Devarist has Markdown support also. I've been using it to include little 20x20 icons for each programming language or technology so I can scan through the past pages to see at a glance which technology each note applies to.
That having been said, doing it in Github might actually be better for the public tidbits. Some things you learn kind of need to be kept private though (like your own projects, or pertaining to your job, or pointing out things you have trouble remembering to do).
If it's something I have to look up I try to make a habit of putting it in there. Then I can do a search for the search phrase I'd normally make and it pops right up, saves me a lot of time looking through the top couple of documents for the nth time.
Devarist has Markdown support also. I've been using it to include little 20x20 icons for each programming language or technology so I can scan through the past pages to see at a glance which technology each note applies to.
That having been said, doing it in Github might actually be better for the public tidbits. Some things you learn kind of need to be kept private though (like your own projects, or pertaining to your job, or pointing out things you have trouble remembering to do).
I use a Google Drive directory full of markdown notes for this purpose. Edit with Writeily, the amazing Android markdown editory, or Macdown on desktop. Done.
Take a look at Quiver, that's what I've been using. It's markdown + code cells + text... I find it amazing for what it does. The evernode of code snippets.
http://happenapps.com/#quiver
http://happenapps.com/#quiver
Or nvAlt (http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/). Everything is plaintext and support Markdown.
Looks like a nice alternative, but it don't seems to do language specific color coding for code.
Great job, and even better idea for putting it into a git repo!
I've been keeping a sort of "development log" for the past few years where, each day, I write a small blurb about what I've done, but more importantly, what I've learned.
It's a similar idea to this, but obviously a lot less structured. (The use of Markdown was a great idea, btw!) This helps you get an idea for how much you have done if you ever find yourself questioning what you've been doing for the past little while.
I've been keeping a sort of "development log" for the past few years where, each day, I write a small blurb about what I've done, but more importantly, what I've learned.
It's a similar idea to this, but obviously a lot less structured. (The use of Markdown was a great idea, btw!) This helps you get an idea for how much you have done if you ever find yourself questioning what you've been doing for the past little while.
It is fun to see what technologies I've been writing about the most over the long run -- Vim and PostgreSQL seem to be the big ones!
I wonder how efficient this would be for non technical stuff. I like to read quite a bit (commute by train) and usually marker and scribble in the books. It's typically business, pop-science, philosophy or history etc...might end up with a list like:
- Visiblity, Feedback, Constraints, Mapping, Consistency, Affordance from Design of Everyday Things
- Maven, Salesperson, Connector from Tipping Point
- 7 years' war cliff notes
I feel like it would get too big soon but it's a nice way of keeping track of the interesting things you have discovered.
I'm also considering putting my entire "Ideas" board and possibly other boards from Trello on Github instead.
Edit: Related question: Is there any way to keep a bibtex file in Github and use it for citations in markup? That would be wonderful.
- Visiblity, Feedback, Constraints, Mapping, Consistency, Affordance from Design of Everyday Things
- Maven, Salesperson, Connector from Tipping Point
- 7 years' war cliff notes
I feel like it would get too big soon but it's a nice way of keeping track of the interesting things you have discovered.
I'm also considering putting my entire "Ideas" board and possibly other boards from Trello on Github instead.
Edit: Related question: Is there any way to keep a bibtex file in Github and use it for citations in markup? That would be wonderful.
I recently found out about `git log -G REGEX` (and -S)
This will filter all commits (ie. lines changed by the commit) by the REGEX and report back the log for those.
With -S, commits with equal number of matches in added and removed lines are ignored.
This will filter all commits (ie. lines changed by the commit) by the REGEX and report back the log for those.
With -S, commits with equal number of matches in added and removed lines are ignored.
Something I find really interesting is how VIM takes up a huge chunk of the TILs.
One of my personal quirks is I feel like those terminal-based editors consume an undue amount of time and energy to learn and maintain. This TIL seems to give a bit of extra evidence for that suspicion. Simpler options have been available for years now (e.g., Sublime). In those rare moments when you do need to edit files on a remote server, nano is always available.
One of my personal quirks is I feel like those terminal-based editors consume an undue amount of time and energy to learn and maintain. This TIL seems to give a bit of extra evidence for that suspicion. Simpler options have been available for years now (e.g., Sublime). In those rare moments when you do need to edit files on a remote server, nano is always available.
If you read the basic documentation for these editors, you'll know how to do the basic editing tasks in a day.
After that, it's just years of learning more and more—which is a nice journey.
Emacs and Vim are standard free software tools, so they get the new language modes and integrations, and they're available everywhere.
By the way, I edit files on a remote server literally all day long.
After that, it's just years of learning more and more—which is a nice journey.
Emacs and Vim are standard free software tools, so they get the new language modes and integrations, and they're available everywhere.
By the way, I edit files on a remote server literally all day long.
If I'm not mistaken tpope, one of the most prolific members of the Vim community works at Hashrocket. I can imagine just being around him will result in an endless stream of Vim TILs.
I keep my org notes in a private repo, which I often edit directly on Github. I organize by topic. e.g. Cooking, Photoshop, Haskell, yoga, drawing, Go, Emacs, vim, etc. I use my two README.org to organize the information. One is for all topics and the second is a much smaller immediate README that I want to view daily. I keep it pruned since the main README has all the references.
I'd like to breakout topics of general interest but I feel that I'd need to be more organized. Last week, however, I did move my Ergonomic Notes (e.g. RSI, keyboards, mice, programming by voice) to a public repo.
https://github.com/melling/ErgonomicNotes
I also find it helpful to group topics and create menus in the org files:
Menu: Ergonomic Keyboards | Ergonomic Mice | Programming by Voice | RSI
I'd like to breakout topics of general interest but I feel that I'd need to be more organized. Last week, however, I did move my Ergonomic Notes (e.g. RSI, keyboards, mice, programming by voice) to a public repo.
https://github.com/melling/ErgonomicNotes
I also find it helpful to group topics and create menus in the org files:
Menu: Ergonomic Keyboards | Ergonomic Mice | Programming by Voice | RSI
This is cool. For one of my internships, every time I learned something I wrote it out with a 'TIL' prefixed and put it in our group chat.
At the end of the internship, I grepped the logs for all those lines but never found anything useful worth re-visiting. :)
At the end of the internship, I grepped the logs for all those lines but never found anything useful worth re-visiting. :)
I love this! I started doing this years ago as well via a simple notes dir in my dotfiles (example [1]), and actually wrote a small tool to help me with it [2]. This way I can list all the note files I have (cli, zsh, vim etc) and pretty print them a bit and have search if I can't remember the exact thing :)
[1]: https://github.com/bittersweet/dotfiles/blob/master/notes/gi...
[2]: https://github.com/bittersweet/notes
[1]: https://github.com/bittersweet/dotfiles/blob/master/notes/gi...
[2]: https://github.com/bittersweet/notes
Great idea!
By the way, minor note on unix/copying-file-contents-to-system-paste-buffer.md:
"pbcopy" is an OS X only utility, but X11 (Linux, BSD) has a rough analogue in the form of "xclip". Just in case you ever switch over ;)
By the way, minor note on unix/copying-file-contents-to-system-paste-buffer.md:
"pbcopy" is an OS X only utility, but X11 (Linux, BSD) has a rough analogue in the form of "xclip". Just in case you ever switch over ;)
Thank you. I was so excited when I read this, it would of been such a letdown.
Good catch, I ought to move that over to the Mac section.
pbcopy && pbpaste are also available for windows - https://ghuntley.com/archive/2016/01/20/pbcopy-pbpaste-for-w...
I've been using Notational Velocity for a while in this way. It's wonderful. Synced on Dropbox, my "little black book" is available on any device I have at hand, and instantly searchable.
I have been taking (plain text) notes for many years. My approach is to write down immediately everything I figure out. The biggest issue I have is to retrieve notes effectively. And to be faster creating them. I started experimenting with how to make the whole process better and have built http://codingbrain.com. It's basically a better search, copy-n-paste, history tool that works on local markdown files.
My other idea I'm currently working on is to provide a different kind of bookmarking service that gives you an option to write down what you have learned from that bookmark. I think one of the best way to get better is to always try to repeat from memory what I have learned. The service is supposed to compare my summary with the original content, maybe offer some Anki style repetition training etc
My other idea I'm currently working on is to provide a different kind of bookmarking service that gives you an option to write down what you have learned from that bookmark. I think one of the best way to get better is to always try to repeat from memory what I have learned. The service is supposed to compare my summary with the original content, maybe offer some Anki style repetition training etc
I do this with my blog. Every time I discover something unexpected or google something and don't get a good answer I like to write a blog post with that search term as the title and the solution to the problem.
Helps both commit the information to memory and help others in the future. Who said blogging had to be long form posts anyway?
Helps both commit the information to memory and help others in the future. Who said blogging had to be long form posts anyway?
When I learn something, I ask a question on Stack Overflow and I answer it myself, which is perfectly allowed and encouraged. The advantage with putting it on Stack Overflow is that I get corrections or better answers over time.
I have done something previously in the past but never keep it up that long. I like your layout. Was it all manual? That is - did you have to do the index/readme manually?
yes, I just placed each post alphabetically as I went.
Your commit messages are remarkably consistent :)
Brilliant. This idea can be extended beyond tech.
Its common for a lot of musicians to keep practice log books. Trying to learn something new every day is an amazing idea, in area of work.
Its common for a lot of musicians to keep practice log books. Trying to learn something new every day is an amazing idea, in area of work.
I've had https://github.com/voltagex/junkcode/blob/master/Bash/comman... for a while but this is much better.
I have to resist the urge to automate the ToC, though.
Edit: https://github.com/voltagex/til
I have to resist the urge to automate the ToC, though.
Edit: https://github.com/voltagex/til
[deleted]
Personally I have "knowlede base" document where are useful hints, commands and step-by-step guides how to do something (like: configure/code/export/filter etc.).
Other text file contains useful links with other's step-by-step guide founded on internet.
Github is interesting idea since it's available from my personal and working laptop. Till now i have used google docs/gmail draft messages.
Other text file contains useful links with other's step-by-step guide founded on internet.
Github is interesting idea since it's available from my personal and working laptop. Till now i have used google docs/gmail draft messages.
TIL is the cool concept for all people and topics, not just for developers or engineering related stuffs.
I apply the simple way to organize them via Github Issue -- https://github.com/tieubao/til/issues
It's good for us in term of effortless and easy for reference ...
I apply the simple way to organize them via Github Issue -- https://github.com/tieubao/til/issues
It's good for us in term of effortless and easy for reference ...
I just thought about doing this for learning hardware design a few hours ago. I started dabbling a while ago, and writing down the things I learnt would result in a concise document full of compressed knowledge. I'll probably use a different format (a continuously updated page on my site), but it's the same idea. Thanks for sharing!
https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/blob/master/ruby/comparing...
I really like the .contain_exactly() matcher for this purpose as well :)
I really like the .contain_exactly() matcher for this purpose as well :)
Ah yea this is awesome. I like this idea more than how I do my notes[0] because I don't actually do most of my notes in github where this makes more sense to actually commit and know when to commit/push.
[0]:https://github.com/cmpis/notes
[0]:https://github.com/cmpis/notes
This is great idea. I always had other way to keep my learnings at a single place, for which I have used Anki tool. At times, down the line I open my Anki tool and see those flash cards on how much I really remember. This was very fun to me and also at the same time very good learning.
Git looks to be an awesome idea. Thanks for your efforts.
Git looks to be an awesome idea. Thanks for your efforts.
The Pragmatic Programmer book talked about creating a solutions log, which can be consulted at a later time.
I was hoping you were a Reddit bot who's been farming /r/todayilearned for the last year.
I've been doing this for years but sparingly and in my blog (in fact my blog's heading reads "because I forget simple little things too soon"). Never occurred to me to git it as that makes it effortless to record just about everything. Thanks for the idea.
I extracted a static site out of this and put it up at http://til.zammu.in/ . This kind of content is great for Static Sites as people can easily contribute to them using Github Pull Requests.
Wow cool idea! I've kind of already been doing something like this but posting little code snippets to my twitter account for later reference. I like the idea of creating a repo like the OP and not having to spam my followers with my random, crappy code! :~) Cheers!
I've been keeping my version of TILs on Quiver and Notes. You've inspired me to organize them together into Github and share. I'm thinking of making Gists for each categories instead of individual files though. Any reason why you created individual files?
Great idea. As someone who suffers sometimers, as opposed to Alzheimer, I tend to forget. I'll know I knew that at some point, and this list would be just the ticket.
I tell people my memory is excellent but my retrieval tends to suck bad sometimes. Random access memory?
I tell people my memory is excellent but my retrieval tends to suck bad sometimes. Random access memory?
would be nice to auto generate these TIL readmes based off personal stack overflow upvotes.
You'd have to capture the action with a browser extension - it doesn't look like "who upvoted what" is exposed at all: http://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/new
Especially when the correct / better answer is not the accepted one.
Smart to put it on GitHub. Works as a nice hack to appear super productive on public profile. My day-to-day commits are all private, so I look slow/lazy to the vagabond internet surfer or startup CTO hiring based on GitHub presence.
This is awesome. It makes me want to do something like it. How about if instead of putting it in a public repo, I put it in a private repo that I can use as a draft for a blog, so I could use it to gradually build an audience.
A great reminder that everyday we do learn something and should be thoughtful about documenting it. We often move to fast to realize that what we discovered, to get something down, is unique. Thanks for sharing and keep it up!
Great Idea! started one too.. decided to hack together a quick script to build my readme https://github.com/drewbailey/til
You mean I could've scored upvotes by posting my wiki on here? Well better late than never...
https://github.com/autotune/wiki
https://github.com/autotune/wiki
This idea is awesome that it makes learning more effective by self-explaining what we've learnt, and the result can be referenced by ourselves in the future using the language of our own.
I've been putting each fact I learn as a line in a til.yaml file for the last 6 months. I grep through all my til.yaml files any time I need to remember something. It's been useful.
This, daily TIL, like dairy has for me is nice way of introspection. I find whenever, if nothing else, I think for 5 mins about what I did everyday had immense value for me personally.
That is an awesome idea.
I don't understand the enthusiasm for this or the rampant forking going on.
Most of these fall firmly under "let me google that for you."
Most of these fall firmly under "let me google that for you."
How do I check my Ubuntu version?
How do I split a tmux window?
How do I expand a clojure macro?Before googling for something you need to actually realise first that there's something that you don't know, but could.
Lots of useful things don't fit that pattern.
To take one example from here, I use 'pry' regularly, but before reading https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/blob/master/ruby/editing-c..., I didn't even think to wonder whether there was a way to fire up an editor from within it. It's not something I've ever actively needed, but it's a very useful shortcut now that I know about it.
Lots of useful things don't fit that pattern.
To take one example from here, I use 'pry' regularly, but before reading https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/blob/master/ruby/editing-c..., I didn't even think to wonder whether there was a way to fire up an editor from within it. It's not something I've ever actively needed, but it's a very useful shortcut now that I know about it.
1. Usually you need to look through multiple posts to find your answer. It's still quick, but remembering you wrote up about it before and searching for it and seeing your more precise note about it is faster.
2. I've been using mine to also keep track of tools I encounter but don't have time to investigate, or for hotkeys or features in specific applications that I didn't realize were there before. I just took a quick glance at my old notes and was reminded about a feature in XCode that I had completely forgotten about since I wrote the note.
3. It's great for a refresher before diving back into a language you've had on the backburner for awhile, and/or before going in for interviews where you know you're going to be quizzed on random knowledge from past languages you've used before but maybe not recently.
2. I've been using mine to also keep track of tools I encounter but don't have time to investigate, or for hotkeys or features in specific applications that I didn't realize were there before. I just took a quick glance at my old notes and was reminded about a feature in XCode that I had completely forgotten about since I wrote the note.
3. It's great for a refresher before diving back into a language you've had on the backburner for awhile, and/or before going in for interviews where you know you're going to be quizzed on random knowledge from past languages you've used before but maybe not recently.
I think the added value in this is that by doing it then you can get back to the learning process going on in your brain at the time you wrote about it and this could resonate with many other stored but half-forgotten memories (for example that project that you were working on when you wrote that note, bringing in additional information).
Moreover, nothing is more useful to the understanding of a subject than trying to explain it to someone else, including your future self (you can only say to have fully understand Relativity when you are able to explain it your grandparents? :) ) That's why I guess it's being seen as a good thing.
Moreover, nothing is more useful to the understanding of a subject than trying to explain it to someone else, including your future self (you can only say to have fully understand Relativity when you are able to explain it your grandparents? :) ) That's why I guess it's being seen as a good thing.
Sometimes it takes quite a bit of effort to get the results you need.
For example when you search for something specific that uses very common words. I'm not great at searching either, often I have to read through lots of results to get the answer I'm looking for.
Having a personal repository of curated results seems like a good resource to have.
For example when you search for something specific that uses very common words. I'm not great at searching either, often I have to read through lots of results to get the answer I'm looking for.
Having a personal repository of curated results seems like a good resource to have.
I assume the value comes from the act of recording your learnings over sharing or later reading them.
You sparked an idea for myself though! Don't gmail results now show up in Google search results?
I can email myself my TIL findings and they will show up at the top (hopefully) the next time I google the same problem. Experiment time!
You sparked an idea for myself though! Don't gmail results now show up in Google search results?
I can email myself my TIL findings and they will show up at the top (hopefully) the next time I google the same problem. Experiment time!
You google for them, then you rephrase to be concise to what you wanted, and in doing so help commit them to memory, and commit them into a publicly visible resource -- where somebody else might find them by googling.
It's not REALLY useful, but at the same time it's really useful.
It's not REALLY useful, but at the same time it's really useful.
google does not create content from thin air, someone has to write it down first. this is it. maybe it will become google's first result?
I keep writing things down everywhere: OSX Notes, org-mode, Evernote, paper. Having it in one (public) GitHub repo is a great idea!
I used to use Evernote, now I use Microsoft OneNote. I can't imagine GitHub would be any easier to use. Your problem is likely one of consistency rather than the medium itself.
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This is great.
BTW I've lurked that concept from you just recently and started doing the same stuff on Sunday. Thanks for inspiration.
BTW I've lurked that concept from you just recently and started doing the same stuff on Sunday. Thanks for inspiration.
Would be nice to connect this to Twitter and get an update when a new one appears. Have you thought of doing that?
That's what newsfeeds are for. You can get an atom feed of the latest commits to any repo via github:
https://github.com/jbranchaud/til/commits/master.atomThanks for that. The HTML encoding is... interesting there - < is there, but > isn't replaced by >. How on earth is a feed reader meant to parse that?
In XML, you don't need to escape >, IIRC. So, it would seem some programmer is either lazy here, or trying to save bytes. You MUST escape <, as otherwise it looks like the start of a tag. Note that the content of the tag you see that in is serialized HTML, too, so at that point, there's HTML in the XML. (and not very good HTML…)
I know this isn't intended to be stackoverflow, but it'd be cool to have a way to get feedback on things.
This is one of the most interesting posts I've seen on HN in a while. Great job, keep up the good work!
This just convinced to just don't bother with using github pages and use the README.md file instead
Lots of good stuff here. I would appreciate a wiki-style site with short answers like these instead of searching {Google,DDG} and trawling the [stackoverflow] results.
Not all of them are necessarily good practice though. This made me chuckle:
What Is The Current [Git] Branch?
Not all of them are necessarily good practice though. This made me chuckle:
What Is The Current [Git] Branch?
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
`git branch` also determines whether your working tree is modified. This can be extremely slow on large repos.
`git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD` is very inexpensive in comparison, and doesn't print anything extra you might need to parse out if you're in a shell script.
`git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD` is very inexpensive in comparison, and doesn't print anything extra you might need to parse out if you're in a shell script.
You could open an issue on his repo :)
I wish technology was simple enough that writing these TILs would be unnecessary.
I thought TIL stood for Threaded Interpretive Language, as per Forth or Factor
Worthy personal cheat-sheet for own and others use. A good idea though.
Are github issues indexed as well as blog entries by search engine?
great idea, I use drupal to keep some notes myself, but this is concise and easier to access, when this list grows you may want to add a search button to it?
thanks for sharing. I remember seeing a reddit section for TIL which is general. I too had some thoughts regarding the same to publish in my blog.
Thank you for sharing this! Thank you!
Really cool repo - nice work!
This is a fantastic idea!
love it! great work keep it up!
I've done a half-assed "important learnings from the last year" retrospective for myself, but your method of keeping it going forward is both far less lossy and more complete.
Putting it on GIT as well seems like a smart choice. Treat it as your "Accessible anywhere" personal cheat-sheet.