There are many things you can use to cover the need for a document repository for a developer. It can be a wiki site, a note tracking application, or a cloud storage location for actual documents. I find use and need for each of these. There is a need for being able to see what you need quickly, so a balance needs to be found for the types of information being stored and the number of applications in use. I think one or two is good early on and you might grow to more of these sort of tools as your career progresses.
Notes
In starting out, an excellent place to store ideas that is easily searchable or at least indexable is critical. There are too many things for a developer to remember that they might need to recall months later. This includes passwords and logins potentially. However, there are far less private pieces of data as well. Server addresses, configuration settings, and even links to useful sites are simple bits of information worth tracking. There are also to do lists, meeting notes, and code snippets that can be stored with such an application.
Evernote is a perfect application to cover this need. The professional version is not too expensive and allows you to sync across multiple devices. This is important as soon as you grow your hardware to more than one device. Otherwise, you end up being tied to one piece of hardware or another, or even worse, wondering what device had the data you are trying to find. Although you can use Evernote as a full document repository via attachments and some other features, there are other options as well.
Wiki/Dynamic Content
In theory, you can store any information you need in a proper notes application. The content can be searchable and even formatted to taste. However, a wiki sort of site adds another level to your ability to store and retrieve information. Notes taking applications are sufficient for short content but what about stories or walk-throughs? It can be hard to create and maintain that sort of information on such a simple platform.
A wiki site allows you to create living documents (and attachments) that provide a user or technical manual for yourself and other readers. The ability to edit them on the fly makes these pages and “documents” a perfect way to capture installation and configuration steps. This is also an excellent way to keep your technical documentation up-to-date with all of the latest changes. Of course, the web-based solution also makes it easy to share this content in a read-only or editable method with anyone on your team or customers.
Personally, I tend to use notes for quick entry information and capturing raw ideas. Over time, I transition the content over to a wiki page that is easier to read. The transition also helps me move from a mere thought to something that has been more thoroughly considered. Neither of these is technically a document repository so let’s look at options that provide that.
Cloud Storage
Full documents are useful to keep around as well as source code and snippets. Some examples of these documents include status report templates, software assessments, recommendations, and even research or white papers. There are often copyright and ownership issues around sharing these documents if they were created by others. However, seeing how others approached a problem can be a way to jump-start you on some tasks. Also, if you keep these over time, the templates you use will only become better as you make adjustments based on experience and feedback.
The cloud is as popular as it has ever been. This is good news because there are a large number of ways to access cloud services for free or at a discounted rate. Of the options available, ones that provide cloud storage are some of the cheapest and easiest to use. Any of these options are more than worth it as moving files around can be a time consuming and error-filled task. I have my favorite. However, here are a couple worth looking into.
Google Drive
Google provides a good deal of space with their Google drive for free. They provide a desktop application to assist in synchronizing files as well. It is easy to use and integrated with Google Docs. Thus, you can move back and forth from your desktop or any device and have access to all of your documents without worrying about the latest version. The price can not be beaten, and it is backed by a sizable company, so you do not have to worry about it going away any time soon.
DropBox
Dropbox is my favorite even though I use it and Google a lot. This application/service is perfect for storing all those files you want in your home folder. It also has mobile apps integration that allows you to work on those files on your tablet or phone. The synchronization options are perfect for customizing your folders for each type of device. In my case, this makes it easy for me to share windows files in a way that my Macs do not see them and vice versa. This is perfect for storing things like executables and even machine specific configuration files. There is a free version that is pretty easy to get improved to a few GB of space, or the pro version is recommended with its 1TB of space.
Box
Box is another commercial solution much like Dropbox. They have some useful features much like Dropbox and Google but are a pricier solution. If you want a significant amount of space for storing your files, then Box does go to unlimited storage plans quickly in the pricing structure. I have to admit I am not as familiar with this platform. However, my experience has been that the synchronization for Box is slower than the other solutions mentioned.
