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Get better at Googling

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Re: Get better at Googling

#161

Post by bmcahren »

Dinosaur warning.

In 1995/1996 when the internet for me was just a source for entertainment and intrigue - we had a Microsoft employee come visit our school after they installed curriculum and computers under some kind of grant program.

One of the most important points he emphasized was that by the time we grow up, the most important skill we will have is the ability to find and vet the source of information online using search engines. At the time dog pile and altavista were the tools of choice - Google did not yet exist.

He said something else similar to "You won't need to rote memory, you'll just be able to reference anything and everything online". It felt like this man knew Wikipedia was coming.

Using these guiding principles I definitely became the developer I am today.

Re: Get better at Googling

#162

Post by aspaceman »

lostcolony wrote: post #110
net_greybeard wrote: post #92

Google is okay for research on how other people have achieved something. But generally these days I am of the opinion it just teaches you bad habits. I really wish people would just read the docs instead of just googling. I am working on a large typescript solution and almost every error in the application is due to the original developers not reading the docs and instead just googling stuff from stack overflow. Also…

"Just read the docs" depends on how good the docs are, and how discoverable they are. For instance, searching for "Java read a file", I find a bunch of examples. And they mostly are good enough, call out when they aren't, and provide useful links. Meanwhile, navigating Oracle's website is a nightmare. https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/io/file.ht... exists, and is actually pretty helpful, but the only…

Sometimes you have to read the docs

“But the docs are poorly written” you say

“But the docs aren’t maintained well” you say

Read the docs. Sometimes it isn’t supposed to be easy. Or fun. Or fit together well. But that’s the job.

RTFM is the best technical advice I’ve been given and can give.

Re: Get better at Googling

#163

Post by koheripbal »

spike021 wrote: post #157
net_greybeard wrote: post #92

Google is okay for research on how other people have achieved something. But generally these days I am of the opinion it just teaches you bad habits. I really wish people would just read the docs instead of just googling. I am working on a large typescript solution and almost every error in the application is due to the original developers not reading the docs and instead just googling stuff from stack overflow. Also…

As with anything, everyone has their own style of learning. Yes, a large portion of developers just copy/paste from SO. However, many people also use the results of what they find on Google to learn concepts that the actual docs for just aren't that good.

I wish I had the time to learn everything I copy from SO/SE.

Sometimes when you need to get something done and you find something that works as is, it is easier to test it and move on to something more important.

We don't have infinite time.

Re: Get better at Googling

#164

Post by submeta »

There are so many devs who can‘t properly Google, but there are equally many devs who can‘t get a couple of books about a subject (that alone is a skill not many devs have mastered), dive into it and take the time to understand. Either they never learned how to properly read or they don‘t have the patience, and thus look for a shortcut.

It‘s okay if you are familiar with a tech to look up how this or that can be solved idiomatically / differently / at all, but never taking the time to learn the basics (of Regexes, of Python, Ruby, Javascript and whatnot) will give you superficial knowledge where you can‘t assess a situation, go two steps on your own before you constantly consult stackoverflow.

Re: Get better at Googling

#166

Post by nyx_ »

submeta wrote: post #164

There are so many devs who can‘t properly Google, but there are equally many devs who can‘t get a couple of books about a subject (that alone is a skill not many devs have mastered), dive into it and take the time to understand. Either they never learned how to properly read or they don‘t have the patience, and thus look for a shortcut. It‘s okay if you are familiar with a tech to look up how this or that can be solv…

Yeah, absolutely. I've become so accustomed to the instant gratification loop of "how do I do this -> internet for 2 minutes -> okay got it" that having to actually read papers or docs on something to build an understanding is a real slog for me lately. I think neural plasticity goes both ways and it's a skill that can be built up again, but getting yourself weaned off of immediate answers is pretty tough.

Re: Get better at Googling

#168

Post by falcolas »

justicezyx wrote: post #148
net_greybeard wrote: post #92

Google is okay for research on how other people have achieved something. But generally these days I am of the opinion it just teaches you bad habits. I really wish people would just read the docs instead of just googling. I am working on a large typescript solution and almost every error in the application is due to the original developers not reading the docs and instead just googling stuff from stack overflow. Also…

Reading the docs... I cannot offer that to the users of my own docs, because I know how outdated it was...

Sounds like a problem...

For you.

If you can't keep your docs up to date, how up to date do you think Google's results are?

Re: Get better at Googling

#169

Post by username90 »

nyx_ wrote: post #166
submeta wrote: post #164

There are so many devs who can‘t properly Google, but there are equally many devs who can‘t get a couple of books about a subject (that alone is a skill not many devs have mastered), dive into it and take the time to understand. Either they never learned how to properly read or they don‘t have the patience, and thus look for a shortcut. It‘s okay if you are familiar with a tech to look up how this or that can be solv…

Yeah, absolutely. I've become so accustomed to the instant gratification loop of "how do I do this -> internet for 2 minutes -> okay got it" that having to actually read papers or docs on something to build an understanding is a real slog for me lately. I think neural plasticity goes both ways and it's a skill that can be built up again, but getting yourself weaned off of immediate answers is pretty tough.

Work on problems that are too hard for Google to easily answer and you stop googling real quick.
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