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Am I an expert developer or just an expert googler?

Davide de Paolis on September 11, 2019

Recently I had to implement a Login feature for our Application. It took me almost 2 weeks ( well, not 100% of my day is spent on coding, there ar...
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peledzohar profile image
Zohar Peled

"You are not paid to write code, You are paid to solve problems"

Word to the wise.

Basically - 99% of the problems you have someone have already encountered before and uploaded a working solution to the internet. Find that solution and 90% of your problem is solved. the next 10% is only adapting the already working solution to fit your specific needs.

Of course, you can choose to go the hard way, but then you violate one of my personal top 3 favorite principles: DRTW - Don't Reinvent The Wheel.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

exactly. many times during standups I can't help but raising my eyebrows in suspiciousness when I hear other devs say a specific task is super complicated and they need to come up with some weird customized implementation to achieve it.

at least 90% of the times with a more accurate google search, or just by digging deeper in the documentation of the library - framework we are using the solution is there.

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mburszley profile image
Maximilian Burszley

Every task was once super complicated and specific.

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peledzohar profile image
Zohar Peled

The key words here are "was once"... IMHO, the most important part of the job is to break down super complicated and specific tasks to small, simple tasks.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

that's another very important skill:
always keep in mind the global picture, but be able to split the problem into small simple tasks

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mememe profile image
mememe

I've been a firm believer that googling solutions is a skill. In fact, it is one of things I check when hiring a developer.

Your post reminds me of the following quora question with this title, Why should I hire a software engineer if I can just copy and paste code from Stack Overflow?

Awesome post!

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Davide de Paolis

The link from quora is very interesting, thanx.
I knew the story mentioned in the top answer but instead of the old man and the ship engine it was simply a technician and a fridge. same concept:
2$ for a small kick
98$ for knowing where to kick
:-)

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sarthakganguly profile image
Sarthak Ganguly • Edited

This is very true.

Picture this.

You have to travel from Mumbai to Kolkata on a bike to deliver a letter. This is your objective/problem.

You have two choices.

  1. You can simply follow the signs on the road and travel. or...

  2. You can ask other people who have done this before and make adequate preparations.

In which case can the receiver expect your letter with greater certainty and less time?

The question is rhetorical - the answer is point 2. You MUST not need to reinvent the wheel to reach your objectives. Reusing good code (and what to search for in the first place) is a skill, not a short cut.

Thanks,
Sarthak

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jesieltrevisan profile image
Jesiel A. S. Trevisan

If you work in a rich company, with a lot of money to waste... It's OK to spent a lot of time studying books, watching especific company's IT class, etc...

But, in real world (Brazil) working as FULL STACK developer (Front + Back + Data Base) where you had passing in many projects with many many diferent styles and technologies, newest and oldest(sometime both together), giving supports to new and old systems, is impossible not use Google or to read the official docs to solve some problems.

The point is... the DEV knows what it's doing?

I already saw thousand and thousand of bad code and design... but... it's not just a copy paste problem... the DEV have to know the principles of best coding (SOLID)

Tests and peer-review is essential to ensure that the problem was solved in best way without bugs.

Using online search tools is one of DEV's many essential skills, but also your training and deepening in design principles should also be up to date.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

it has to do with attitude.

it does not depend on how rich is the company. you cannot know everything. but you can learn a lot while reading documentation, other peoples code, watching tutorials. if you just look for the solution, and don't have SOLID principles nor the will to understand deeper ( both at work and in your free time), you are not doing a good job.
I agree entirly with you regarding peer review and self training!
thanx for taking the time writing your comment

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Brad

A big thing I've noticed often is developers seeking answers for the wrong problems.

Its one thing to fix the problem, its another to understand it. Its very easy to jump to conclusions and cut corners by using assumptions for what is actually is wrong.

We've all been there, where we are lost when something isn't working, and we spend tons of time trying to fix it, only to find it was something simple and dumb.

You can have strong "google-fu", but your looking in the wrong area, and or your original assumptions are wrong, you will just waste your time.

Understand the problem, really understand it, verify you understand it, and then and only then attempt to fix it.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

ABSOLUTELY. in fact with knowing how to google i dont mean all the tricks to speed up the search or restrict it to specific timeranges or websites ( skill that is also very useful).

I really meant Search and Find the right stuff.
Before searching, investigate the issue, understand the problem, find ways to phrase and rephrase your question.
After searching, skim and scan and connect the pieces of the puzzle to understand the solution.

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Alexandro Disla

Very grateful for this!!! I am a beginner into a Bootcamp. I will give my best.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

wish you all the best along this journey!

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equan profile image
Equan P.

i believe expert googler is part of expert developer skills

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iceorfiresite profile image
Ice or Fire

Porque no los dos?

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_t0p1 profile image
TOP1.0

I am working as a solo developer in this company. Sometimes when got stuck a problem usually will take about 1 weeks to solve.

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trylks profile image
πŸ’Ύ trylks

I'm looking forward to technical interviews where using Google is permitted. Especially for positions in Google.

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dvddpl profile image
Davide de Paolis

:-)

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Mahendra Choudhary

Understanding other code while googling always help me to be a better programmer .