Ask HN: Where do you save code snippets or cli commands

8 points by Madawar 11 years ago | 13 comments

Hi, where do you guys save code snippets and/or cli commands that you have just learned before you memorize them?

pjungwir 11 years ago |

I use the `man` system. When you invoke `man` you can pass an optional leading argument indicating which "section" of man pages you want to see, e.g. `man 1 open` and `man 2 open` give different pages.

You can add new sections by setting $MANSECT. So I added a new section named with my initials, pj:

    export MANSECT=1:n:l:8:3:2:3posix:3pm:3perl:5:4:9:6:7:pj

You can also change where the `man` command searches for manpage files using $MANPATH:

    export MANPATH="$MANPATH:$HOME/man"

Now you can just `mkdir -p ~/man/manpj` and start adding files with a `.pj` extension, like `postgres.pj` and `bash.pj`. Then it's super-fast to bring those up by saying `man pj postgres`.

Of course you would substitute all the above with your own initials or whatever.

You don't even have to write the files with the usual formatting macros. Most of the time a plain text file works okay. But it's kind of fun to learn enough of that to get by: probably less than a dozen macros for paragraph breaks, underlining, etc.

And then you can put your collection of notes on Github like here:

https://github.com/pjungwir/manpj

Here is a file with a few man macros:

https://github.com/pjungwir/manpj/blob/master/bc.pj

97-109-107 11 years ago |

I'm using https://github.com/xolox/vim-notes and create files for each topic. Recently I could help my colleague by exporting my mongodb-related notes to markdown and publish it for him.

mrfusion 11 years ago |

I've been using gists. Does that seem like an ok idea? My only complaint is that they don't show up in google searches or when someone looks at my profile in github so I don't really get to share them by default.

I also keep forgetting my password :-(

forgotpasswd3x 11 years ago |

I've created a .org file that I keep with useful commands / code that I reference pretty often. I keep it in my Dropbox folder so I can access and update it from any of the computers I work on. Seems to do the job.

1781 11 years ago |

.zsh_history with no limit has served me well for a decade

victorstanciu 11 years ago |

I use a simple personal Wiki that I made: http://wikitten.vizuina.com

dserodio 11 years ago |

GitBox[1] which is a pretty web UI for Gists

[1] https://gistboxapp.com

somlor 11 years ago |

I've been using https://snipt.net for the last 6 years.

brandonlipman 11 years ago |

I use evernote, that way I can see contextual notes and past use cases.

rendambathu 11 years ago |

Notational Velocity. Using for past 4 years.

jhildings 11 years ago |

many open notepad documents :D :D

Blackthorn 11 years ago |

Google Keep.

TheThingie 11 years ago | |

OneNote is great especially in a shared environment.