I'm sure you "old timers" out there already know this one, but I just discovered it and thought I would pass it along. I find when I'm writing code off the top of my head, which is most times, I often think of things to remember to do later, or find a code snippet I want to include. Most times I write them in my notebook but sometimes I find, especially with code snagged electronically, it's easier to store it with the code.
This morning I was adding an RTC to my home Moteino GW project and since I didn't have the physical h/w in front of me I was just updating the code. I grabbed the specifics of the fields returned by the RTC and instead of writing them down or opening Notepad, I added a new tab on my Arduino IDE sketch. I then copied all of the code I wanted to add later. I just called it "Notes". When I tried to compile the code it complained and I just added the normal "/*" and "*/" comments around the chunk of code and everything is good.
Good tip,
But FYI the new file will have a .ino extension on disk. So it's considered a code file. But of course you can just name it "NOTES/README" and it will open next to the actual sketch.
I named it just "Notes". It did create an INO file but since I put comments around the whole contents of the tab it doesn't actually get compiled.
Thanks for the tip....didn't think about the disk file.
BTW, it's much easier to envelop your unfinished/untested/unused/obsolete code as follows, then you can use all the standard commenting, /*...*/ and //, without needing to do anything extra.
#if false
.... notes or code here ....
#endif
I normally use
/*
......
*******************************/
at the head of files for notes, and the #if business for code.
Another tip: There's also 'Use external editor' tick in the IDE settings which enables to use external editor. Arduino IDE then only compiles and uploads the latest code when needed. I found Notepad++ superior compared to Arduino IDE editor.