Top down thinking is the #1 most underrated skill in large scale problem solving. However, there is an equally important need for fixing narrowly defined problems which need detailed focus. In the end you need both the engineer that projects the entire car and the one that builds the door handle.
The best programmers are the quickest to Google
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Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#92I have seen too many people copy pasting from google and introducing bugs in the code just because they don't understand what is going on.
I know that HN is really focused toward web apps and mobile apps. However, sometimes is good to remember that there is plenty of software done also to control machines and perform mission critical tasks. In those cases often is better to have control over the whole software stack. That is why so many High-Tech companies have their own software libraries, for example for image processing. In addition there is an IP and licensing question.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#93Yes 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…
But they key to becoming a non-beginner are the first two bits, not the third. It's developing that filter experts have which separates relevant information from irrelevant information. Lots of beginners use Google in a backwards sort of way, having been trained to "look for the solution." It's not about memorization, then, it's about this compression algorithm we call "being an expert." I think this goes pretty much…
It's not only knowing how to filter the results, but knowing what to Google for in the first place. Often results will be different if the search uses slightly different terminology, and knowing what the right terminology to use is requires a little bit of domain knowledge. Once you have the domain knowledge, not only is it easier to determine what results are more likely to yield useful information, but you also get better results in the first place through better search terms.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#94Yes 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…
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 so small my umbrella fixings cannot open up behind the board.
So I will get longer screws to go in the wall. But now my masonry drill slips on hard stones and gouges chunks from the plaster. Try harder - is that smoke coming from the drill? Eventually I find a consultant ( in the DIY store)
Aha - it's not masonry drill bits you need - you need aggregate drills. And a new drill.
Eventually I bought new drill bits, a new drill, six inch screws and I can do chin ups on the damn things.
The lesson
1. Until you understand the fundamentals of the problem, you will make poor choices time and again. Google correctly told me where to buy masonry drills and plasterboard fixings. It did not know to ask if I had the right walk for that.
2. New technology changes "embedded knowledge" - I learnt to drill brick walls from my father, But new ways of using the old can change everything.
3. Hire a professional while you go and do revenue generating work.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Surely the programming languages, libraries, and platforms you were using had documentation. It's not the point whether you are using www.google.com, mycompanyintranet.com/wiki, or yelling across the room to ask a question. By the way, the three attributes you just stated are what makes anyone good at almost anything.
No. I've been contributing to the Rust compiler in my spare time, and needless to say documentation is quite lacking. In fact, the Rust source code itself and git diffs are probably the best documentation available since everything is still changing. In this context, you don't have the luxury of using Google for examples of common actions. I'm also an undergraduate security researcher. In this position, you are at th…
Even in large, well documented projects. People often overlook how good source code can work as documentation.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#96What was life like before Google? Sure there was documentation, and code comments, and senior devs you could ask. But surely that was less than Google? Or perhaps the scale of problems were less vast compared to now, so the amount of info you would get by Googling now was unnecessary back then.
Funny, in the future there will be adults that have never lived in a world without Google. Instead of the word 'Google', just say fast, well indexed internet searching.
It depends where you were. In a university or large business you could go to where the other computer people were and ask, or go to the library, and if you were lucky maybe a BBS where a few experts were. If you had the right contacts you could pick up the phone and call someone (god long distance was expensive back then). Things didn't occur at the rate they do now. You might have to push a problem out for a week or two to get an answer, or maybe a manual shipped via mail. That, or you pissed around and tinkered with something till it worked by yourself.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#97It depends on what you're working on. If you're working at the cutting edge, you will find that Google often doesn't have the answers you need... simply because they aren't out there.
To quote the article under discussion: "If you need to implement something in code and it’s not cutting edge technology, Google it first."
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#98But the slowest to cut and paste what they find there.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#99If I've been solving a specific type of problem using similar technologies for 10 years I'm going to code circles around you while you're off googling stuff.
Re: The best programmers are the quickest to Google
#100What was life like before Google? Sure there was documentation, and code comments, and senior devs you could ask. But surely that was less than Google? Or perhaps the scale of problems were less vast compared to now, so the amount of info you would get by Googling now was unnecessary back then.
There are these things called books.