Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

...

Section
titleComparison of Tools

Let's briefly further define the scope of a developer diary in contrast of other tools that help you get organized and communicate with your colleagues in your working life.

Section


Column


Section
level2
titleTeam Spaces

Every team should have their own space within the wiki as a tool of collaboration. You may use the Doctypes for Agile Planning to structure your work in iterations. These iteration documents and all subordinate documents you attach to it, are also records that do not have to be updated. There are also documents for retrospectives to support you in your process of continuous improvement.

The difference is that this space and its document is organized by a team of workers that are collectively responsible to keep this a place where you can store and find information easily. The developer diary is written by a single developer. Others may read, but do not edit.

  • Diary: Written by me, used by me. Others may read it.
  • Team Space: Written by us, used by us. Others may read it.


Section
level2
titleBlog

A blog is a sequence of articles you publish to have them read by others. You probably want to get in contact with your readers though comments and discussion on the topics you have written about.

A developer diary on the other side, while not strictly private, is not meant to be discussed. Team members may talk to you over lunch about interesting bits or may even answer questions you have raised, but this is not its main concern. It is the developers log of events, a tool to improve and reflect about the professional goals.


Section
level2
titleTask

While you may use a diary to log tasks, a issue management system, like JIRA, is probably a more convenient place to organize them. Especially if you are not working on them on your own and if you need some source of information for your release notes.

A diary is not a tool to organize your work for a project. It is a tool to organize yourself: the goals you want to reach and identify the parts you want to improve to get more of the things done you are most interested in.



Column


Section
level2
titlePersonal Diary

A personal diary is a private affair. You write your most personal thoughts in it to reflect and overcome personal difficult situations. You usually do not want to share information on this level of privacy with your colleges. Keep these two things separate. A developer's diary is something you do not care to keep secret. On the opposite: You want to share but do not want to be taken responsible for information that may be delusive, not up-to-date or plain wrong.


Section
level2
titleStatus Updates

Sending status updates to your team members via User Status Updates (a Twitter-like messaging system inside Confluence) or HipChat is a very helpful tool to synch your collaborative work. Some teams use these updates to prepare themselves for their daily stand-up.

Diary entries may also be used for daily stand-up preparation, but are certainly no tool to make status updates quickly. Team members may none-the-less access the diaries of the colleagues to update themselves by these discoveries.


Section
level2
titleJournal

A diary may by mistake stress the personal emphasis of a diary. A journal is also a log of events but by definition does not need to be maintained on a daily fashion.

So it is mostly a matter of taste to call this tool 'Journal' or 'Diary'.


Section
level2
titleCodelog

A codelog is often very similar to a developer diary. It may stress on code snippets or technical solutions.





Section
titleDeveloper Diary for projectdoc

projectdoc Developer Diaries provides templates to create your developer diary with Confluence and projectdoc.

Section


Column


Column


Panel
titleColorwhite
titleBGColororange
titleprojectdoc for Confluence

Install projectdoc for Confluence (trial) now via

Atlassian Marketplace


Panel
titleColorwhite
titleBGColororange
titleInstall Developer Diary for projectdoc!

Install the Developer Diary for projectdoc now and for free via

Atlassian Marketplace


Panel
borderColororange
borderWidth3

Get started with your developer diary:

Create a Diary in a Personal Space!


Panel
titleColorwhite
titleBGColororange
titleInstall additional Doctypes!

Install additional Doctype Add-ons now and for free via

Atlassian Marketplace




...