
Show HN: Quiver – The Programmer's Notebook - ylian
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quiver-programmers-notebook/id866773894?mt=12
======
ylian
Quiver is a Mac app that helps programmers take notes. Its unique cell-based
design makes it easy to mix text and code in one note.

I built Quiver to scratch my own itch. I have tried numerous code snippet
managers over the years, but they all missed one crucial point: it's not just
code that you want to store. Usually you want to mix code snippets with
comments, images, and links. Nothing out there was able to do that. That's why
I built Quiver.

Now Quiver 2.0 is out. This major update comes with cloud syncing, shared
notebooks, Markdown preview, presentation mode, and more. With this new
version Quiver is no longer just for a single user, but for team collaboration
as well. You can use a shared notebook as a shared knowledge base in your
company.

You can find more information about Quiver here:
[http://happenapps.com/#quiver](http://happenapps.com/#quiver)

A free trial version is here:
[http://happenapps.com/downloads/QuiverFreeTrial.zip](http://happenapps.com/downloads/QuiverFreeTrial.zip)

~~~
adamnemecek
I've been looking for something like this I'll definitely check it out when I
get home. One small feature request that I have though is if you could add
some simple screen-shoting functionality. I believe it should be simple enough
judging for example by this SO question
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12823489/how-to-take-
regi...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12823489/how-to-take-region-
screenshot-in-mac-os-x-using-cocoa-and-cgdisplaycreateimagefo) and this
example
[https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/samplecode/SonOfGrab...](https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/samplecode/SonOfGrab/Introduction/Intro.html)
but I might be wrong. I realize that I could just use whatever screen-shoting
app and then drag the image over but sometimes I take a lot of them and all
the switching gets really annoying.

~~~
ylian
You can take a screenshot with the standard OS X shortcuts (Command-Shift-3,
Command-Shift-4, etc.) then paste into a text cell. Quiver lets you save
images inside text cells, including web images (which will be saved locally so
they work offline).

If you like a quick workflow, use Command-Control-Shift-3 to take a screenshot
and save it to clipboard, then paste in Quiver.

------
azeirah
For anyone interested in an alternative, I'm working on Brainstorm, an open-
source note taking application that runs in the browser.

Its fuelled by markdown with syntax highlighting support. Since Brainstorm
likes looking at things, you can also embed images (and .webm video using html
<video>)

The demo currently has no restrictions on who can and cannot edit notes. This
won't be a problem in the future.

Demo can be found here: [http://brainstorm-
notes.meteor.com](http://brainstorm-notes.meteor.com)

Github:
[https://github.com/Azeirah/brainstorm](https://github.com/Azeirah/brainstorm)

------
lfuller
How is this different from Evernote? I use Evernote for this exact purpose
using their notebooks and tags. The UI looks to be based on it as well.

~~~
ylian
Also, Evernote doesn't have Markdown support. Quiver has Markdown cells and
live Markdown preview.

~~~
vowelless
[http://marxi.co/](http://marxi.co/) seems pretty useful.

~~~
ylian
Seems quite useful to be used together with Evernote. Thanks.

------
dangoor
Though it's a different beast, the (Smallest) Federated Wiki shares some
similarities with this. It uses a JSON format and allows different paragraphs
to use different plugins, including a code plugin:

[http://fed.wiki.org/view/choose-plugins/view/about-code-
plug...](http://fed.wiki.org/view/choose-plugins/view/about-code-plugin)

It is also cool in that it's a federated wiki. If you're not familiar with the
idea, consider listening to this recent JavaScript Jabber podcast with Ward
Cunningham:

[http://devchat.tv/js-jabber/135-jsj-smallest-federated-
wiki-...](http://devchat.tv/js-jabber/135-jsj-smallest-federated-wiki-with-
ward-cunningham)

It's a great concept and you can set up a federated wiki on your own machine
with "npm install wiki".

Edit: Sorry for failing to only provide an alternative without commenting on
Quiver!

Though I am clearly excited about fed wiki, I also intend to buy Quiver
because it meets specific needs that I have with easy image inclusion, export
to HTML and I may even have a use for the presentation mode.

Nice to see ACE used this way... I worked on ACE some years back and currently
work on a web tech-based desktop editor (Brackets).

Congrats on a great project!

~~~
ylian
The federated wiki idea is interesting. It's the first time I hear about it.
The json file format does look very similar to what Quiver has. It is cool to
be able to resolve note conflicts with a drag-n-drop UI.

And thanks for ACE! Without it I wouldn't be able to create Quiver. It's an
awesome code editor!

~~~
dangoor
You're welcome for my little bit of ACE. There were others with a much bigger
hand in it than me (Fabian Jakobs and Julian Viereck come to mind instantly).
It was a fun project (and probably still is!)

------
agentultra
A great looking app.

I use the babel package built into emacs' org-mode. It's not for everyone
though.

It's worth investing in a tool like this. I find the act of keeping a journal
to be invaluable to developing my skills as a programmer. I find it serves two
primary purposes. It first provides me a historical record of how my thinking
has been changed and influenced. And it helps me to recall difficult subject
matter in deep, complex domains. I tend to have limited brain capacity so it's
nice to have a "database" of my thoughts to lean on.

~~~
cpbotha
Emacs org-mode with babel is definitely the bee's knees.

I can intersperse org-mode markup (much richer than markdown) with syntax-
highlighted and executable code snippets. I can export all of this to my
wordpress blog or to great-looking LaTeX documents, or even to presentations
using org-reveal.

Here's an example of an exported org-mode file with math and graphics:
[http://vxlabs.com/2014/06/16/level-sets-the-
practical-10-min...](http://vxlabs.com/2014/06/16/level-sets-the-
practical-10-minute-introduction/)

Here's a simpler example with just Python snippets embedded:
[http://vxlabs.com/2014/11/12/getting-django-rest-
framework-t...](http://vxlabs.com/2014/11/12/getting-django-rest-framework-to-
parse-docstrings-as-restructuredtext/)

------
seivadmas
I'm sure Quiver is slick software but so often I have seen flashy tools suck
up more time and effort in using them than other, simpler solutions.

If you want to make quick notes, there is absolutely no better tool than a
notebook and pencil.

It's time tested and been proven to work for the past 2,000 years. It offers
the minimum possible barrier between your thoughts and the page. It allows
completely free expression with no limits on what characters you can type or
where you draw your lines. You can erase and rewrite arbitrary areas as many
times as you want using an eraser. The battery will never run out, it's very
cheap and there's no screen to smash if you drop it.

FYI this isn't the opinion of some ancient luddite who still thinks we should
be programming with punch cards. I'm 25 and have been hacking and playing with
computer hardware and software since I was 12.

And I still think a moleskin pad and mechanical pencil is hands down the
absolute best UI for crystallizing thoughts. If you are using anything
flashier you are wasting your time on the tool rather than the substance of
what you are thinking.

~~~
TbobbyZ
I agree with this to some extent. I'm a sucker for a new moleskin notebook.

But, it is such a freaking pain to copy code down into a paper notebook. I've
been doing it for a few weeks now and I feel I spend more time copying down
the code than actually programming somedays.

Also, my handwriting is horrible.

~~~
seivadmas
Well I don't tend to actually write much code out by hand. Usually I use a
notebook for sketching out ideas, thoughts or todo lists.

For copying out code I use the same text editor that I program in.

------
digitalzombie
Looks neat. I'll have to try it out first before thinking about buying it.

I've been using Gollum, a project from github. It's basically a wiki using
ruby brick and git to serve the md pages. I think the hassle is having to
start up gollum to use the wiki and having it run.

And I keep different subjects in different repos so switching between each
repo and relaunching gollum is a hassle. The code highlight isn't so great
with other languages such as Erlang iirc.

Does this just have one hierarchical page in each notebook? Say the python
book, it seems like there's say a collection of pages, each of those pages
cannot have nested pages?

~~~
ylian
Yes Quiver has a very simple hierarchy: notebooks and notes. But you can use
tags and linked notes for more flexible note organization. Also, when there
are lots of notes, the only practical way to find something quickly is a full-
text search, which Quiver supports nicely.

~~~
digitalzombie
Whoa.. is the full-text search per notebook or every notebook? Can I choose to
search per notebook and every notebooks?

That sounds awesome!

------
anabranch
A way to convert IPython Notebooks to Quiver notes would certainly be useful
(as would the other way around). Searching ipython notebooks for code is a
nightmare.

edit: good work btw, I'm not completely sold on this solution but I do think
there's a problem here. I'm pretty invested in evernote but think this has
potential.

~~~
ylian
That is a good idea. IPython Notebook was another inspiration for Quiver.
Since Quiver uses an simple JSON format for data files, it's easy to write a
script to convert IPython notebooks to Quiver notebooks. I don't yet have
importer scripts, but I have written some exporter scripts here, and you get
the idea. [https://github.com/HappenApps/Quiver/wiki/Export-
Scripts](https://github.com/HappenApps/Quiver/wiki/Export-Scripts)

~~~
anabranch
I made a quick and dirty script to convert markdown to quiver already but
unfortunately have a ton on my plate right now.

[https://gist.github.com/anabranch/09c421e3ff13e1245316](https://gist.github.com/anabranch/09c421e3ff13e1245316)

This basically just splits it on ```code``` blocks and only supports python at
the moment, but could be a resource for others.

~~~
ylian
Wow, that's fast. Appreciate that. Added to Quiver wiki.

------
sixstringninja
Any thoughts on making this cross-platform (Win7, linux)? I currently use
tiddlywiki to keep a journal of all my notes but it's not as seamless to use.
At work, I use Windows7 but at home, I use Mac OSX. I have it synced via
Dropbox which allows me to jot down notes almost anytime I'm using a computer.

------
patrickrgaffney
I've been using the demo for the past hour and I'm really enjoying writing
short code snippets with "text cell" comments. The only feature I would
request is some way of inserting tables, perhaps a "table cell" option. Great
app though, loving the demo so far.

~~~
ylian
It's possible. Thanks for the suggestion.

~~~
boxblue
Hello~

How can I insert a table? I've googled but I couldn't find the way. It is
supported only purchased version? I want to check this feature before I buy
the quiver. :)

------
fra
I would love to have syntax highlighting in nvALT (~notational velocity), but
wouldn't switch away from it for that feature alone. Having tried out quiver,
it's not nearly as fast to use.

~~~
ylian
nvAlt is great. It's one of the inspirations for Quiver.

------
spdegabrielle
Nice. Any chance of a windows version?

~~~
ylian
Unfortunately I am not a Windows programmer. But Quiver uses a simple JSON
format for notebooks and notes, as documented here:
[https://github.com/HappenApps/Quiver/wiki/Quiver-Data-
Format](https://github.com/HappenApps/Quiver/wiki/Quiver-Data-Format)

So anyone with the right skills can take Quiver's design and format, and make
a similar app for Windows. I wouldn't mind at all.

------
kevan
This looks like it'd be really useful for quickly making teaching materials.

------
avendael
Will it be possible to add a feature like the web clipper?

------
Fastidious
Beautifully made, and very useful. Bought it. Thanks!

~~~
ylian
Thanks for support. Let me know if you find issues or have suggestions.

------
cvalentin
Is there any encryption for notebooks/notes?

~~~
ylian
Quiver 2 saves all data in plain JSON files. So if you have turned on
FileVault on Mac, the data files will be encrypted. Otherwise no.

------
toddkazakov
Weird name

~~~
ylian
A quiver keeps arrows safe for a great archer. The Quiver app keeps notes
organized for a great programmer.

~~~
bshimmin
Great name and a great icon, I would say!

