The readings and responses listed here should take you approximately 25 minutes.
To start this assignment, click the button in the upper right-hand corner that says Fork. This is now your copy of this document. Click the Edit button when you're ready to start adding your answers. To save your work, click the green button in the bottom right-hand corner. You can always come back and re-edit your gist.
1. Do Experienced Programmers Use Google Frequently? by Umer Mansoor (10 min)
- Your key take-aways OR how you're going to implement specific points (minimum 2):
- It's definitely reassuring to know that people of all skill levels rely on the internet to troubleshoot and problem solve, even in areas where they are considered experts. I've used Google countless times to find solutions to a wide variety of issues, and I've developed a deep appreciation for the wealth of information that's freely available online. I'm reminded of the time my car's fanbelt desintegrated and my dad and I were working together to replace it. He was shocked at how quickly I was able to find a YouTube video demonstrating fanbelt replacement for a vehicle of the exact same make and model. I guess hadn't really considered how programmers might be similarly reliant on Google, but it makes total sense. There's far too much minute detail in any coding language for one person to committ fully to memory. I think that as I become more familiar with industry jargon, finding what I need on Google will be easier.
2. 20 Google Search Tips to Use Google More Efficiently by Joseph Hindy (15 min)
- Briefly describe (in your own words) each of the tips below AND provide an example of a search that captures the sentiment of the tip
- Tip 2: Put your search terms in quotation marks and the results will show only websites where the terms appear right next to each other in that exact same order. In other words, it allows you to search for phrases rather than a group of words.
- Tip 3: Use a hyphen to exclude unwanted results when searching ambiguous terms. A hyphen next to a word tells Google to find all results that exclude that word. Search for "Earth -planet" to get search results about soil.
- Tip 4: Use a colon to run your search across a specific website, rather than the entire web.
- Tip 9: Use the word "OR" to run two similar searches simultaneously.
- Tip 13: Use formal language rather than colloquial language when searching Google
- Tip 14: Simplify search queries to include only the most important words. Don't use articles, pronoun etc.
- Tip 17: If you don't immediately get the results you need, try rephrasing your search query or moving some of the words around.
If you have any questions, comments, or confusions from any of the readings that you would like an instructor to address, list them below: