Cheatsheets: A Developer's Best Friend

2025-05-21

Cheatsheets: A Developer's Best Friend

Intro

Whether diving into a new language, framework or revisiting syntax you haven't used in a while, one thing always helps: a good cheatsheet.

We've all been there, understand the concept, written the code before, but int the middle of the task you pause:
"How do I setup a virtual environment for Python apps again"
Cheatsheets are more than convenience, they help hack your brain.

Repetition, Not Memorization

There is a reason athletes, musicians and creatives rehearse fundamentals every day. The popular 10,000 hours to mastery might not be perfectly scientific, but the principle holds: mastery comes from repetition.
For Developers, repetition isn't about typing the same code, its about recognizing patterns, recalling syntax and reinforcing mental models.

Cheatsheets are active repetition.Unlike watching tutorials, reading documentation,Googling, or asking Chat GPT, cheatsheets force quick recall and application of knowledge. Great for long-term retention and deep learning.

Why I made my own Cheatsheet

Long before I saw the trend on X/LinkendIn of other peoples cheatsheets (some are really helpful) I had been making my own. I needed something tailored to how I think.

At first I used Markdown notes but became hard to read and navigate easily. Then I tried sticky note apps Stickies and Microsoft Sticky Notes. It helped massively, especially in the learning git days, until I had too many open and lost track of everything, a lot like my desk back in the day.

Thats when I realized I needed something that suited me, a mixture of all the things I had found useful. A common thread when I'm deciding on projects is "How can this benefit me", and thus I needed to build my own tool.

How I Built my Cheatsheet

I needed something fast, visual, and built for browsing whilst coding.

I used:

HTML,CSS,JavaScript - simple visual frontend
Flexbox - to make cards drag and drop
JSON - Easy to store and add by topic
Github and Github Pages - Accessible anywhere

The result: A cheatsheet where I can visually organize key syntax, concepts, and patterns all in a browser whilst working. A ditital sticky notes, organized, searchable and designed to evolve.

My first focus was C# Syntax. The idea came about whilst I was refreshing C# as part of 100daysofcode I was doing on X. Check out here

Is it perfect? Far from it but the potential to grow adapt and change as I continue my development as a developer. Its a project I have benefitted from and hope to improve and share with others.

See the Cheatsheet Live