Searching - Do you know how to be a great Googler?

The best developers are also extremely good at finding a solution to a problem they don't know.

I am pretty good at Googling but when I can't find something, I ask my friend Scott on IM. Scott Hanselman is the best Googler I know. He can find anything in 2 minutes...

Tips:

1. Think of a piece of the code that will be in the answer
2. Include the company name if possible
3. Use the advanced searching functionality
4. Use quotation marks when you're searching for an exact string
5. Include the technology used if appropriate

If someone asks you for help searching, always tell them the keywords - that will help them learn to search better.

For example, take smh.com.au, a leading Australian news website. If you search on the keywords 'Australia' and 'news' you won't find it on the first page, but if you add 'Sydney' (a word from the company name) then you're number 1...

Using AI like ChatGPT can be a good alternative to Googling because it gives quick answers, understands questions, and lets you ask follow-ups… but remember to be mindful of potential hallucination.

Learn the Rules to Better ChatGPT Prompt Engineering.