Programming is prone to frustration, even as a hobby. Building a website, mobile APP, or desktop APP is a big project, and good note-taking skills are the key to keeping the project organized, and a great way to overcome stress, despair, and burnout.

But most note-taking apps aren’t designed with programmers in mind, and they can make users uncomfortable to use or abandon the tools altogether. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best note-taking tools for you. Check them out – you’ll love them!

1. Boostnote

(For OS: Windows, Mac, Linux)

Boostnote is an exemplary note-taking application designed for encoders. It doesn’t have all the features of modern note-taking apps (for example, it has a Markdown format and folder-based organization, but it lacks customizable keyboard shortcuts), but it does have all the features programmers like:


You can embed code blocks directly in regular notes, as well as create separate snippet comments for collecting and grouping multiple code blocks in a single comment. It also supports to-do lists TO help you manage tasks. Wouldn’t it be nice TO mix it with a tomato clock?

Boostnote’s value lies in being both free and open source. Combined with its functions, Boostnote is an ideal choice for computer science students.

2. MedleyText

(For OS: Windows, Mac, Linux)

MedleyText, much like Boostnote, has fewer features, but digs deeper into every feature: rich text formatting, embeddable blocks of code in notes, and customizable keyboard shortcuts. Ideal for programmers who need to manage large projects.


When you embed formatted code directly into your notes, the application automatically highlights the syntax, and you can manually adjust the parts that need to be highlighted. As of press time, MedleyText supports more than 40 programming languages.

MedleyText is completely free with no restrictions when using local notes. A premium service version, MedleyText + S, will be released in the second half of 2017, allowing users to sync notes to cloud storage, access the Web version of the app and share notes with others.

3. Quiver

(For OS: Mac)

Quiver is another application similar to these two: users can mix and match text (Markdown and LaTeX formats) for embedded code. But Quiver has a code-specific editor that is simpler and faster than the competition.


As for syntax highlighting, the app supports more than 120 programming languages. Cloud storage synchronization supports Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, and more. And because the notes are stored in JSON format, you can safely use version control to track changes. Sharing laptops even allows teams to collaborate on large projects.

So if Quiver is so great, why is it in third place? Because it only works on the Mac. While the Mac is a pretty good programming environment, most encoders are still on Windows or Linux. We think it’s quite negative.

4. OneNote

(For OS: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Web)

OneNote is arguably the best note-taking application, but it currently lacks syntax highlighting, making it unsuitable for programmers. Fortunately, a free plugin released by GitHub users allows OneNote to highlight syntax in code.


Plug-ins are a little clunky, but it should be nice to finally be able to save code comments using OneNote. OneNote is one of the best ways for students to take notes, which is especially good news for computer science and engineering students.

The note-sharing feature also makes OneNote collaboration projects very convenient. Best of all, it’s completely free on almost every major platform, including desktop and mobile devices (except Linux).

5. CherryTree

(For OS: Windows)

Unlike most note-taking applications, CherryTree is more like a personal wiki. But because pages can be nested within each other in a hierarchy, it’s more than enough to take notes. What makes it look like a wiki? This is mainly because you can insert links throughout the notebook to jump to other pages.


There are other applications that have similar functionality to CherryTree, including wikidPad and Star, but CherryTree supports special code-specific page types. Programmers can use regular notes to record ideas and tasks, and a code-specific page to record snippets of code. At the page level, both types operate exactly the same way.

CherryTree is very fast, making it one of the best lightweight note-taking applications out there.

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6. Sublime Text

(For OS: Windows, Mac, Linux)

As a programmer, you probably already know Sublime Text. Yes, this is a text editor, not a note-taking app, but of course it can be used for note-taking as well: each note is a text file, and each snippet of code is in a separate language file.

Sublime Text’s native features are ideal for improving overall productivity, and the ability to split multiple editor panes is an integral feature. But for note-taking and organization functions, you can get better results with some free plug-ins.

Sidebarenhslovakia is a must have plug-in for every Sublime Text user. It adds some optimized sidebars, mostly in menus when you click on files. PlainTasks integrates a to-do LIST in the editor. MarkdownEditing gives you a way to take notes using Markdown syntax.


Sublime Text will cost you $70 in theory, but the free period never ends. Sublime Text can be used for free indefinitely, as long as you can tolerate occasional pop-ups reminding you to buy the full version.

7. TickTick

(For OS: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Web)

Although TickTick is a to-do LIST app, there is one subtle feature that makes it great for note-taking: Each LIST item has a “description” field that acts as a perfect notepad.


As a programmer, you can use TickTick to track all tasks as separate list items and store any comments required for each task. But without syntactic features or rich text formats, it’s actually better for managing programmer ideas than storing snippets of code.

In addition, you can enjoy the full to-do LIST functionality: folder system, sub-tasks, regular tasks, reminders, priorities, and more. The free version of TickTick limits the number of listings and costs $28 a year.

Extra tips for becoming a better programmer

If you don’t like any of this, you can still take notes in your code by pasting comments. This is not the best way to manage abstract-level projects because it requires clear coding habits, but it is a good way to annotate certain low-level fields.

Either way, you have to move on and improve. Programming is hard, so with these tips, learning to code will be a lot easier. Also, learn how daily meditation can improve your code. If you’re feeling stuck, there’s a way to overcome the programmer’s block.

Original: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-note-taking-tools-programmers/

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