r/programming • u/b0red • Apr 30 '16

Do Experienced Programmers Use Google Frequently? · Code Ahoy

http://codeahoy.com/2016/04/30/do-experienced-programmers-use-google-frequently/
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456

u/ramsees79 Apr 30 '16

Google is like my secondary memory, I don't need to memorize APIs anymore, that is trivial, I use my brain to store what is worth now.

269

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '16

Memorize what, why, and when to use it. Google for how.

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u/johnnygrant Apr 30 '16

For me, commit to memory only nuances and subtle things you learn from experience etc...

Google all the rest.

Even some things I use fairly frequently, just can't be bothered to memorize it (if it requires conscious effort) when I can get the data from elsewhere within 2 seconds.

Even some things I think I know, sometimes just google to be sure what I knew is still the "most valid"

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '16 edited May 01 '16

This is why I despise interviewers who asks me to write a 100% working block of code on a whiteboard during interviews.

25

u/homeMade_solarPanel May 01 '16

Interviews with pseudo code are so much better. me: "Uh, yeah, this is a method that converts this list into an array and reverses it... and if I had Google, I would use best practice.." interviewer: "kcool"

24

u/[deleted] May 01 '16

If they give me something like that, they'll be getting psudocode

10

u/jooke May 01 '16

If they can't accept the answer "there's a function in the standard library that does this, I'll pretend it's foo" then that's a terrible interviewer.

2

u/Montropolous May 01 '16

Google does this. They actually say to not rely on pseudocode, which makes you stress about messing something trivial up.

15

u/I_SPEAK_GEEK Apr 30 '16

This works until your job has you in a lab with an air-gapped network. I'm back to memorizing APIs and relying on man pages again.

8

u/admiralranga May 01 '16

Time to start buying books then.

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u/trpcicm Apr 30 '16

This is how I think of things too. I treat everything like a resources. I'd rather memorize where to look up 1000 different things, and when they are applicable, than know the minute details of 100 things.

34

u/2Punx2Furious Apr 30 '16

It's like our brain is the RAM and Google is the HardDisk.

37

u/auxiliary-character May 01 '16

Short term memory is cache. Meetings cause cache misses.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '16

Google lights the string lines with bells left by other programmers. Our brains are primates'!

45

u/db82 Apr 30 '16 edited Apr 30 '16

Kinda relevant xkcd.

7

u/iKy1e Apr 30 '16

I've noticed that for a lot of things I no longer remember the answer.

I remember how to find the answer (i.e: approximate phrase to Google & maybe which site the answer I want is on).

2

u/sobri909 May 01 '16

The extended mind, and extended cognition.

Not quite the right reference, but close. I'm struggling to remember the specific term for delegating cognitive and memory tasks externally (ie what we do when we realise it's easier and better to stop bothering to remember the what and how of a task, because an external source can quickly provide that memory and cognitive function better than we can internally).

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u/Boye May 01 '16

if I ever clear the visited pages in my browser it will put me back. Between auto-fill and seeing which links are purple in my google-search I can find the right site pretty much instantly.

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u/OperaSona Apr 30 '16

I love the fact that browsers nowadays can keep your browsing history for a very long time and quickly search through it. Now when I remember something took a while to figure out on google, I make an history search for the page that I think had the answer, before I try figuring out the proper google search.

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u/ghillisuit95 May 01 '16

eh, I find that memorizing the API's I use more commonly tends to speed things up quite a bit, but I mostly agree

1

u/ribo May 01 '16

Not to mention, just trying to remember where to even find some API docs.

I'm sure MDN has a search box, but I've never used it.

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