First, let me say how we take notes and what instruments we use are admittedly a private desire and choice. Hopefully, we are doing it, nevertheless!
Most of us are creatures of behavior and luxury – we would like it easy and efficient. After we put that developer hat on as a part of our DevOps/SRE or AppDev roles it’s optimum once we can mix our code improvement atmosphere, or IDE, with a instrument that we take notes in. I’m certain most of us are utilizing Microsoft’s Visible Studio Code app as we write Python or Go-based scripts and functions throughout our community programming and automation work. I most likely knocked out 4,500 traces of Python in assist of the CiscoLive Community Operations Heart (NOC) automation earlier this summer time and VS Code was integral to that.
Microsoft Visible Studio Code with a CiscoLive NOC Python Script
You’re most likely accustomed to VS Code’s sturdy integration with git out of your native improvement atmosphere and the flexibility to synchronize with distant GitHub repositories. It’s an awesome function to make sure model management, present code backup storage, and encourage collaboration with different builders.
GitHub with a CiscoLive NOC Software program Repository
I used to be inspired to seek out an extension to VS Code that follows the idea of ‘Docs as Code’. Should you’re not acquainted, I’d encourage you to observe my esteemed Developer Relations colleague, Anne Light, who’s main a lot innovation on this area. Anne describes this idea in her GitHub repo.
The extension I take advantage of is named Dendron. It’s extra formally generally known as an open-source doc administration system. It permits for hierarchical documentation and note-taking. It makes use of the identical, acquainted markdown idea for textual content formatting, doc linking and picture references, as you’d use with GitHub, Webex messaging app or Webex API. You possibly can journal and have your ideas organized in day by day buckets. Doc templates are supported. I discover the provided assembly notes template as fairly helpful and extensible. As a proof of Dendron’s flexibility, I wrote this weblog in Dendron earlier than passing over to the publication staff!
VS Code with Dendron Extension: Notice Taking Panel with Preview
I recognize the hierarchical mannequin of taking notes. I’ve sections for my staff notes, my initiatives, the companions and prospects I’m working with, and one-on-one assembly notes. The hierarchy works down from there. As an example, this observe is saved within the VS Code workspace for Dendron, and its vault, as ‘MyProjects.blogs.Notes as Code.md’. I even have a ‘MyProjects.PiK8s.md’ for a Kubernetes atmosphere on a cluster of Raspberry Pis – extra on that quickly!
Dendron is able to effectively and shortly looking and managing tens of hundreds of notes. After I end a challenge, I can refactor it into a distinct hierarchy for archive. The hyperlinks inside the authentic observe are re-referenced, so I don’t lose continuity!
I’m not prepared to do that refactor simply but, however right here’s a screensnap of it confirming the motion of the observe throughout hierarchies. I are inclined to put accomplished initiatives in a ‘zARCHIVE’ department.
Dendron Extension Utilizing Doc Refactor Characteristic
Dendron additionally helps superior diagramming with the mermaid visualization syntax. This subsequent picture is a linked screen-capture of the Dendron writing panel adjoining to the preview panel the place I imagined a workflow to get this weblog posted.
Dendron Markdown with Preview Displaying mermaid Movement Chart
Community protocol and software program inter-process communication could be documented as sequence diagrams additionally! Right here’s my tongue-in-cheek illustration of a DHCP course of.
```mermaid sequenceDiagram participant Consumer participant Router participant DHCP Server Consumer->>Router: I would like my IP Deal with (as broadcast) Router->>DHCP Server: (forwarded) Get subsequent lease DHCP Server-->>Router: Here is 192.168.1.100 Router-->>Consumer: You good with 192.168.1.100? Consumer->>Router: Sure, thanks Router->>DHCP Server: We're all set! ```
The markdown and preview behind the scenes regarded like this…
Dendron Markdown with Preview Displaying mermaid Sequence Diagram
So, How Can I Use This?
An efficient approach of utilizing VS Code with Dendron can be in live performance with the notetaking and documentation you do to your git repos. Since Dendron notes are successfully textual content, you may sync them along with your git repo and distant GitHub publication as your README.md information, LICENSE.md and CONTRIBUTING.md, which ought to make up the muse of your documented challenge on GitHub.
I hope you discover the effectivity of utilizing Dendron in VS Code together with the writing of Python script in the identical as useful as I do!
Associated sources
Should you’re fascinated with some extra Cisco DevNet sources round challenge documentation, think about this Code Change Repo Template to your challenge – it doesn’t even need to be submitted to Cisco. The principle factor is to prepare and template cheap info for others to eat and be constant.
You may as well try Cisco Code Change. There you’ll discover and collaborate on curated GitHub initiatives to jumpstart your work with Cisco platforms, APIs, and SDKs.
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