DrawExpress

I've been looking for a good app for drawing diagrams for stuff like UML, network layouts, ER, etc.  The search is over -- DrawExpress, and the Lite (free) version is awesome.  It's available on Android and IOS.

Being a mobile app, it has touchscreen support, which makes drawing very intuitive.  Even easier when you have a stylus and a tablet.  Ease of drawing is a big consideration, otherwise I'd just draw with paper and a pen and then scan/photo it.  Earlier, I was looking at drawing apps like Paper or AutoDesk Sketchbook, Skitch, etc.  A lot of apps have a short delay between drawing on the screen and when the line actually displays.  This is irritating and many apps were unacceptable just on this point alone.

Another problem with these drawing apps is when doing diagrams, you don't really want everything to be free-hand.  I'm specifically looking for something to draw diagrams with, not draw portraits.  If you want to draw a flowchart, you don't want your crappy crooked boxes in there, you really would like boxes.  This applies especially to text.  Additionally, there's no need for a full blown colorwheel, spray paint, layers, different pen types, pencil textures and stuff like that.

DrawExpress is fast and translates hand drawn lines into a variety of things.  In fact, it's more like having a line/gesture based UI.  Draw a box, it creates a box.  Scribble back and forth inside the box (like a crayon) and a color is applied.  Deleting the box is as easy as drawing an X over it.  You use drawn lines and gestures to perform operations.  Once you get used to these inputs, it's pretty fast.

When complete, the output can be exported to png, svg and de (DrawExpress file?).

So far, I've been playing with the free Lite version and like what I see.  I used it today to draw an ER diagram to plan out data models.  It was quick and easy, complete in a couple of minutes.  This might be the first app I actually plunk down money on!

DrawExpress Homepage

New theme

Speaking with my team lead at work, I picked up an excellent nugget of advice -- after learning something, try to teach it to someone and you'll quickly find out where the gaps are in your knowledge are.  And to a lesser extent, try writing things down.  These acts help reinforce your learning.

I've reset this blog and will use it to write things down.  It will provide notes to my future self, as well as help my brain process information I glean from random articles on the internet, etc.