At the genesis of CodeNPaste is the desire for a low-burden system to keep things together with no maintenance and a limited presentation effort for a programmer. Plus, we wanted to get rid of folders or tree structure explorations to remove time consuming exploration from the equation.
Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten principles were quickly on the table since one of the founding partners studied at Bielefeld University, where Luhmann has been teaching.
As we thrived in developing the system, modern technology allowed us to directly apply some of Mr Luhmann's principles and achieve our initial objectives. Here is how.
What’s Zettelkasten ?
It's a knowledge mananagement system invented by Niklas Luhmann in the 60's. It translates into « Note Box ». The principles of this system are :
- Subject-specific and short notes. Based on 1 page (Zettel)
- Binding or linking system between notes
- Flexibility (adding or removing notes)
- Ordering between notes
How is CodeNPaste using Zettelkasten principles?
Subject-specific and short notes
The system is made to work with small notes—we call them items—you would accumulate on the fly and collect.
It's all about simplicity: minimal formatting, no need to worry about where to place your notes, save what seems relevant to your knowledge journey, and give it a title and keywords.
This unique approach removes two common difficulties of knowledge management: structure & presentations.
Binding and categorizing with keywords
CodeNpaste supports multiple keywords to bind or group items. Hence, items can be grouped without restrictions for more flexibility.
A group is revealed from the keyword menu or inside every item when you click on the keyword of your choice.
Point of divergence: structure & ordering
Traditionally, paper notes are placed and ordered relatively to one-anothers. From our point of view, this is when KM starts to be the creation of documentation or development of a subject-specific application; this is the hard boundary CodeNPaste does not cross. There are already plenty of great applications for project-specific applications.
CodeNPaste use no ordering and no hierarchy system. Even though you can access your items with a list or keyword menu, it's almost structureless. CodeNPaste has no rigid tree-like structure. It steers away from the original concept of Zettelkasten by offering more flexibility in that regard.
Difference with other KM systems: search & exploration
Search
The search engine is the keystone of the system. Since there is no tree-like structure in the background, it is the principal method of finding content. It doesn't get easier than that. There is no need to browse through several folders or compartments. The search engine's capacity allows for complex, multiple word, query with the use of operators ( +, --, | ) to fine-tune results.
The search engine looks into titles, keywords, item content, and languages to ensure no items are missed due to a lack of appropriate tagging. Every single item can be used and re-used across several projects without needing initial categorization.
Every search creates a new list of dynamic results (automatically updated every time it's activated). This list can be saved to serve as a dynamic folder or to avoid multiple manual entries.
Exploration
You can access, compare, or find content from various views (List, Keywords, Bookmarks) or by clicking on the keyword of any item to trigger a search on this specific keyword.
The search engine returns public and private (yours, only seen by you) results so you can see others' methods and content. In the context of a team, it allows for knowledge pooling and transfer.
Conclusion
CodeNPaste is a knowledge management program for atomic notes, grouped by multiple keywords and accessed primarily through a search engine.
We made the app as productive, flexible, and comfortable as possible while trying to keep it as simple as possible. The most difficult part is left to the user: crafting and accumulating short subject-specific notes.
In an AI-driven world, it might seem paradoxical to craft notes manually and build a personal knowledge base while knowledge is more accessible than ever. But it helps to understand, learn, and remember. It is the basis of the thinking process and abilities. It made me a better AI user, allowing me to interact, interpret, and evaluate AI outputs more adequately.
AI doesn't make us smarter or better learners; it just eases our access to general information. It remains up to us to develop our intellectual skills.
