timebook and timetrap: Tracking your every effort

When I say this post is a two-fer, I really mean it. I haven’t seen two programs as similar as timebook and timetrap since cplay and mcplay.

And in this case, they’re similar for the same reason: One is a rewrite of the other, in a different language. So I’ll show you timebook, which is arguably the original python time tracker, and you can imagine timetrap, changing the parts that set it apart for being written in ruby.

I am only half kidding there. Both applications install as t, and both enlist much the same commands, but just looking at their respective source packages reveals that timetrap has seen some recent attention, while timebook appears to have … well, let’s say “stalled.”

Both programs let you track your work efforts or study periods with quick jabs at the keyboard. For example …

As you can see, just t in project is enough to get the timer started, and t out punches you out. Which is an odd choice of words, considering we already looked at punch, a few months ago.

timebook has around eight or 10 possible controls, and timetrap adds a little more flair here and there, with things like natural language input and custom output formats. Neither one will take you long to adopt, and you have the added bonus of knowing that your projects are tracked down to the second.

I grazed these two applications a few years ago, but didn’t give a whole lot of attention to either. I probably should apologize for that, but aside from morbid curiosity, I really don’t have a whole lot of use for project tracking.

That always may change in the future, so should it ever befall me to work for a shrewish boss or charge clients on a down-to-the-second basis, I’ll at least know I have two options for timers. 😉