Notepad App: Scratchpad

I've finally a useable part of my personal app.  The Scratchpad function is working fully.

I made a serious mistake when working on this part, by trying to store the Scratchpad data in a SQLite database.  Such a DB makes sense when you are storing multiple notes, but the Scratchpad is just one big note, a text dump for storing quick thoughts that I don't want or need to create a full, separate note for.  There's no need to wrestle with database queries and row integrity.  I lost several hours struggling to get things working, to the point where I almost gave up.

Thankfully, I sat back down and researched alternative storage methods.  After all, this kind of data could easily be stored in as a text file, and as it turns out, Android has tools for doing this.  You can create storage files that are viewable and readable only by the app itself.  Using this technique, I got the Scratchpad working very quickly, and while I am happy it works, I'm also more frustrated with the fact that I'll never get those wasted hours back.

This reveals a major flaw in my skills as a programmer.  I rely on sample code too much, to the point where it holds me back.  I needed to store data; what I should have done is look through the reference documents for ways to do this.  Instead, I looked through the samples I had previously read through.  Since all of these samples were dealing with ListViews, they all used SQLite tables.  It wasn't the only storage choice available, but it was the only one I was exposed to.  Thus my tunnel vision set in.

The other problem with using sample code is that sometimes the only thing it can teach you is how certain parts of the API work within the context of this specific example.  Unless you can read the code and understand how to use a featured method  in any given situation, then you don't really understand how to use it.  If you then proceed to copy and paste that code into a completely different context, what will you do if it breaks?  Scramble, of course, because you don't know enough about how it works.

I made these mistakes with the Scratchpad, and for my own sake, I need to learn from them if I am to get the remainder of the app completed without experiencing this level of frustration.

The Moral of the Story: Use sample code to get a feel for how a complete program reads and flows.  But when it's time to do something yourself, figure out what it is you want to do, and look through the API to find pieces that will help you do that.  Work with them until you find out what it really does, and if it isn't suiting your purposes, start looking again.  By the time you have a working prototype, you will be able to explain why it works (and if it turns out there's a better way you could have done it, don't worry.  That can come in a new version, when your skills have improved).