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Googling is a requirement

Here is another thing that annoys me. Some people ping with questions that are trivially answerable by a Google search. If you want to ask me something, consider Googling it first, not doing so shows lack of respect for my time.

Print | posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 3:12 PM

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 3:57 PM Stefan Wenig

Sure.

BTW, can you point me to some pics of Paris Hilton's wardrobe malfunctions? Just wondering...

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 4:08 PM cupboardy

GIYF

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 4:13 PM Alex Simkin

What is Google?

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 4:43 PM Tim Barcz

I have no idea what the question was that prompted this email but what if it's a subjective question? Google will give you plenty of results but to someone who doesn't know the answer already how do they sift through and find the right one? Google provides no authority on the quality of the results, it only returns posts that match the search term as best as Google sees fit.

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 5:00 PM Glenn Wiley

I think it's just professional courtesy to try answering your own questions first. I've found that others are more willing to help you if they know that you've exhausted other resources to try to figure something out. It's one thing to ask the guy sitting next to you at work a quick question about something, but when you go to your manager, or somebody who is very busy, show some respect for their time and they'll be far more willing to help you out when needed.

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:05 PM NotMyself

Google can be a crap shoot some times, I like to start with SearchDotNet and then hit Google if I am not finding anything.

http://searchdotnet.com/

# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:06 PM Steve Sanderson

You think you're busy? Do you have any idea how busy Google is? They get like a million queries a second, dude.

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:28 PM LukeB

Hear hear. I second this 100%.

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:36 PM João Bragança

In the words of Jules from Pulp Fiction:
Google m!@!$, do you speak it?

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:40 PM Ayende Rahien

Steve,
ROTFL

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 6:57 PM Eber Irigoyen

yeah... before you ask... http://ebersys.blogspot.com/2007/02/before-you-ask.html

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 7:40 PM Damian

Here is another thing that annoys me. Some people interviewing me ping with questions that are trivially answerable by a Google search. If you want to ask me something, considering if Googling it is trivial, not doing so shows lack of respect for my abilites.

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 9:55 PM Alex Simkin

@Damian,

It's actually a brilliant remark. I was interviewed with the following question: "We do have locations where there is no public Internet access. Are you still capable to work in such locations?"

Do you all?

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 10:22 PM Kyle

I always Google before doing anything. . .even waking up in the morning. I do it in my sleep.

On the other hand, is it true that people who have been programming for a long time do not think to ever ask the following question:

Is there an easier way to do this?

Recently, someone "experienced" at my company wrote code to format the cells of a data grid view. They did it by inserting spaces before the text in order to center it in the cells. They did this every time a cell had to be changed. The above question popped into my mind as soon as I saw the bug report related to that ridiculous code (along with an exasperated, "What were they thinking!?"). I went and just made the default cell style center the information, of course.

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 10:24 PM Kyle

@Alex Simkin

Yes. Lately, I've been using Google less and less for coding, and using MSDN more and more. It's become just a matter of figuring out what specific objects do, not so much how to use them, and I can get the library on disk, so that's no trouble. When it comes to something more complex, though, I still rely pretty heavily on Google.

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 re: Googling is a requirement 7/18/2008 11:45 PM firefly

I agree 100% Google is great :)
@ Tim, It's pretty obvious when somebody has done their research or not simply by the way they phase their question. There are plenty of stuff that I wouldn't be able to come up with on my own or come up with in a short amount of time but when present a solution I can quickly grasp the concept. Some will get it quicker than other that's depend on one intelligent and experience. But seriously, if after given a reasonable of time and that person still doesn't get it then perhaps it's time for them find a new profession.

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/19/2008 1:11 AM Steve Bohlen

I was listening to a podcast the other day where someone was disucssing their interview process for new developers and how it was somewhat in contravention to how they would expect a developer to actually work.

The anecdote went on to say that In the interview process, the candidate is given a computer and VS and as asked to solve a well-bounded problem by writing an algorithm in C#; internet access during this part of the interview is not allowed (presumably so that the candidate cannot 'google' the answer).

But in the real world, if a dev is presented with a problem (a well-encapsulated one like 'write an algorithm that does....') and the first thing they did WASN'T to google to see what others had already done to solve this same issue, they should be FIRED for needlessly reinventing the wheel.

I would tend to say that this reinforces your point.

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/19/2008 7:40 AM Pieter

Send them to this site: http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/19/2008 11:39 AM Sergey

Maybe suggest typing 'question site:www.ayende.com' into Google, or add a search function to your blog. Aplogies if there is already one, I couldn't find it, and I asked Google and everything.

Top right is a common place for a search box - right about where you have your 'You can reach me ...' email address and phone number. Sorry man, but you are kind of inviting questions.

 re: Googling is a requirement 7/19/2008 6:46 PM Ken

I agree with Sergey. Many times I have tried to find a blog entry in the archives and just can't find it, google or otherwise. I'm dumbfounded there is not an easy way to search this blog when it is so chock full of useful information, ideas, and guidance.

You're such a prolific blogger, Ayende, that trying to find a particular post from even a few months back is equal to the proverbial needle in a haystack.

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/21/2008 10:57 PM Neal Blomfield

Maybe add opensearch support to your blog? http://www.hanselman.com/blog/AddingOpenSearchToYourWebsiteAndGettingInTheBrowsersSearchBox.aspx

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# re: Googling is a requirement 7/23/2008 10:20 AM Gian Maria

maybe people did some google searches as a step 1, they find that many many answer find solution in your blog, then they decide to jump step 1, and directly ask you :D.

alk.

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# re: Googling is a requirement 8/23/2008 3:51 PM Sudhir Mangla

Hi I would like to mention another search engine for dot net developers which cover all good sites for dot net and related technologies as of August, 2008.

http://tips.developersvoice.com/devsearch

This developers search engine is inspired by searchdotnet.com and I try my best achieve even batter results. Both these developers search engines would greatly help the developer’s community.

DO test it yourself and let me know your comments.

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