Google?

Yes, Google! I would say Google is a popular search engine that has helped and is still helping millions of programmers, and I am sure one of them. Growing up, I pronounced it as "Gorgle" till recently when I finally learnt it is pronounced as "Gugle". I use Google to search for basically everything. When I am not clear about something, I Google it, I need answers to a question, I Google it, I want to get things around me, I also Google it. What on earth can't be found on Google? I really don't know.

Google as a tool for programmers

The power of searching through Google to get answers to a problem can never be overemphasized. Whenever I am stuck and I need to understand a concept, I quickly move to Google. One beautiful thing about Google is that whatever trouble you are experiencing has already been experienced by someone else and would give you an idea of how to go about solving the problem.

Stack overflow is a popular question and answer website for professional and enthusiast programmers. As a programmer, it is very important to utilize stack overflow as there are professionals who are willing to help answer questions and give you the best approach in solving problems. Apart from stack overflow, there are other websites that can help you as a programmer. Sometimes searching for questions can be really tiring, the Google search engine might not pop out the answer to the question. This is where your sharp skills as a programmer comes in. There is more to using Google search than just typing the popular "how to".

Keywords for Google search

Like I said earlier, there is more to using Google than just typing "how to use if/else", "how to delete a query", "how to use OOP"? With keywords like this, the search engine shows a list of generic posts about the searched topic and sometimes might not necessarily give you the result you desire. If you are looking for something more specific, then it's time to try using better keywords that can make your search easier. Take, for example, I want to understand how indexing begins with 0 and length begins with 1. I might not get a post directly explaining both and I can just get frustrated. If there is no post explaining this, it doesn't mean it cannot be found on Google! Let's try something else. Why not break it down a little? Firstly, ask Google why indexing in programming starts from 0 and, after understanding the concept, proceed to ask why calculating the length of an array starts from 1 and not 0. Viola! That way, you are able to kill two birds with one stone.

While this might be a basic example, it is necessary to call attention to little problems like this to better understand the complicated ones which I would cover later in coming posts. I have seen people fall victim to simple cases like this.

conclusion

It's one thing to be a good developer, and it's another to be good at using Google to search for answers. There is a popular meme where the job seeker mentioned his core skill was searching through Google and the Interviewer hired him immediately (lol). Searching through google as a developer is a skill and should not be placed over reading documentations. I don't joke with documentations, because most things you spend hours searching in Google can be found easily with documentations.

However, our impatience gets the best of us sometimes and we just have to use this powerful search engine. Some would say "using Google is like copying and pasting other people's ideas", I would say "Using Google is like having a second charger in your bag, when needed, you pick it up and use it to charge your phone till you get a full bar". Documentations are beautiful and can never be put aside for any reason, but when it is necessary, take up your device, type the right keywords, press the enter key and let's Google it!

Thank you for reading.

This article was published as #week4 article for #4articles4weeks Hashnode Writeathon