Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what parent said.
Two commenters read my comment backwards. Wonder why.
Because the second line sounds sarcastic.
The best programmers are the quickest to Google
191–200 of 205 posts
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let me give a non-programming example. It took me the best part of the weekend to drill twelve holes for curtains - because it is not enough to Google for the answers. Now, if you knock on a wall and it sounds hollow - you just google for hollow wall fixings. Great. I'll go buy some of those. Drill into the wall. And hit brick behind the plaster. Err... Ok they have invented a new type - dry lined Walls. The gap is s…
This is a great point and a great example. I find: I google things I understand but don't remember. I read books about things I know about but don't understand. I read blogs and other streams to learn what I don't know about.
This post helped me reach clarity. Thank you.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what parent said.
Two commenters read my comment backwards. Wonder why.
apologies.. I completely inverted the meaning of your comment... and yeah, I think the other commenter is right.. the second line would be an appropriately sarcastic response if it actually said what my brain interpreted it as.
That said, given the number of upvotes, it seems like a ton of people misread your comment as well.. quite interesting...
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#194Yes and no. I'm a co-founder of http://devbootcamp.com so I see this every day in the context of people learning to be programmers. "The best programmers I know understand how to architect and build large projects piece by piece. They can focus on the macro because don’t get hung up in the pieces. They know how to use Google to find solutions fast. DRY." I agree with the first and second bit and strictly speaking the…
Sorry for being off topic, but what resources would you recommend to someone who wants to learn everything that is taught in dev bootcamp but cant attend?
Get yourself a book like "How to design programs" and a computer, and hack away.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cannot upvote you enough - especially on the first point. All the googling in the world is worthless without knowing what to Google for . The "trick" of expert[^1] programmers is to know the difference, and to slowly expand the base they can build on. [^1] An expert is merely a person who has learnt from more mistakes. There's nothing magical about it, as much as the cult of the rock star programmer would have us b…
And this is the unstated meta problem implied (but usually ignored) in that Einstein quote. Sure, you don't need to remember anything you can look up in a book (or Google), but you do need to know how to get to the right book again. Beginners aren't characterised by not knowing how to type queries into Google's search box, it's that they don't know _what_ to type. Being an expert isn't about being able to solve probl…
"Sure, you don't need to remember anything you can look up in a book (or Google), but you do need to know how to get to the right book again."
Well, I would actually say you need to know "why" you're looking for said book/solution first. Then after you've found the right book/solution then its a matter of how to get there.
In my case, its all about having a good plan of attack. If you know where you're going, then its easy to Google for that solution to get to the next step in your plan.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#196I couldn't help but read this and think about technical interviews that involve the candidate being asked to write code on a whiteboard - no Google, no code linting/hinting/completion etc. I'm very much in favor of candidates being asked to write some code under more realistic conditions, including finding solutions to parts of the exercise online. Of course, they should then be able to explain to the interviewer(s)…
While this may be good for code under 100 lines, anything more requires using Google. Either it be simple trivial things like email regexp (for those who don't have the luxury of having premade libraries for them) or harder things like algorithms.
Getting a precise email regular expression straight is much harder than most questions about algorithms you will ever be asked in an interview.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#197More like: the most clueless programmers are the quickest to Google. If you know what you are doing, there isn't always an urge to look for ready-made solutions.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#198More like: the most clueless programmers are the quickest to Google. If you know what you are doing, there isn't always an urge to look for ready-made solutions.
I have been away for a while. Has HN fallen so low in the meantime? Time to change its name to Code Monkey News, maybe?
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
YAGNI. There's nothing wrong with not acquiring new skill either. It depends on how soon/often you will need to use the skill in the future. Also on how urgent you need to do it if the need arises.
It also depends on the amount of revenue you can generate if you hire a professional and get on with your work. If we assume that the professional's fee is constant (doesn't depend on your income), then someone with very high income can waste only minutes on the task before it would have been cheaper to hire a professional, whereas someone with low income can devote a few hours to learning how to do it themselves and…
You an other comments seem to only balance cost and time lost, but doing your own curtains, for many people, is also fun, rewarding, interesting, and a very good way to change focus from professional or personal issues.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cannot upvote you enough - especially on the first point. All the googling in the world is worthless without knowing what to Google for . The "trick" of expert[^1] programmers is to know the difference, and to slowly expand the base they can build on. [^1] An expert is merely a person who has learnt from more mistakes. There's nothing magical about it, as much as the cult of the rock star programmer would have us b…
And this is the unstated meta problem implied (but usually ignored) in that Einstein quote. Sure, you don't need to remember anything you can look up in a book (or Google), but you do need to know how to get to the right book again. Beginners aren't characterised by not knowing how to type queries into Google's search box, it's that they don't know _what_ to type. Being an expert isn't about being able to solve probl…
I find knowing what to search for isn't that crucial. The brain is a very powerful pattern matching system, so you just look for something vaguely similar and search for that. Those results will virtually always lead you to the right terminology, at least in my experience, at which point you can modify your search query and drill down further.
I suppose learning how to use Google this way is a skill in itself though.