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This is an unpopular opinion but I think the answer to this may depend on the age of the engineer. For example, I learned programming before stack overflow. I

This is an unpopular opinion but I think the answer to this may depend on the age of the engineer. For example, I learned programming before stack overflow. I have most of the standard library syntax in my head and mostly look at spec documents. Once in a great while I will go on stack overflow if I can’t debug a problem but I don’t post on there . In the same way, I suspect some engineers like using video to learn things or debug things but it’s not for me.

buro9 6y ago
This is probably true. Having lived without the ability to search any random problem and have a snippet of code there, I'm used to searching for academic papers, RFCs, or reference documentation and then build up my understanding and make an implementation that way. There are times that I've not done this though, for example a couple of years ago I was struggling to comprehend how to convert some math from a paper into actual code (the symbols were more than a little odd and I swear a bit of the equation was missing) and yet searching Github revealed a repo where someone had produced snippets of different obscure algorithms. Not quite a cut and paste, but definitely a "read the answer".
- djbeadle 6y ago
  My secret move when I'm having trouble setting up a new library or dependency is to search for some common code from it on Github. For example, how do I use the Python requests library (bad example because it has great documentation) would lead me to searching "import requests".
paxys 6y ago
It's less about age and more about the stack you work with. I know several experienced engineers who have the entire Java library memorized, but have them work on a slightly different stack (or even a newer SDK version) and they will be blindly Googling for answers like anyone else.
P_I_Staker 6y ago
"Kids these days"
HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago
Possibly, but I don't know where the inflection point lies. Before StackOverflow was a "thing," I recall noticing that it was easier to google spec documents on an electronic component even though I had the manufacturer's databook and Application Notes just across the room. The ease of searching the pdf on google outweighed the ease of getting up and paging through the physical book. The main difference was in Application Notes: I could sit down and read some of the better ones like a novel (I'm looking at you, Analog Devices :-) and that was easier with the dead tree copy than the online one.
mixmastamyk 6y ago
Sometimes you want a discussion of the pros and cons of the various ways to tackle a problem, in order to find the best approach for your application. This kind of information is almost never in standard documentation.
- ketzo 6y ago
  Yep. There's nothing quite like the experience of going on Stack Overflow for a particular problem, and the "best answer" is almost what you need... but you scroll down, and there's a different version that's exactly what you need! except it's for an older version of the library... but there's a comment on that answer, from two years later, with a quick note on "if you're at version 7+, just do Y instead of X." Absolutely wonderful.
  - metalforever 6y ago
    I use Reddit for this
lucb1e 6y ago
> This is an unpopular opinion [citation needed] These kinds of comments just make those who agree be sure to upvote, they're part of this perceived in-crowd after all, and most of the time (here too) it's fairly obviously true so a lot of people will upvote. Of course a newb will copy more code than a veteran. They also have very different functions in organisations on average. It's neither an opinion nor unpopular.
- metalforever 6y ago
  That’s not exactly what I’m saying. Veteran isn’t really the same thing as “age”. Also, I think it is pretty controversial for one to claim that some people don’t really use Stack Overflow
  - lucb1e 6y ago
    > Veteran isn’t really the same thing as “age”. Of course not, but at the same time there are not that many 15-year-old gurus. It's not really the same thing, but on average people will gain more experience as they do a job for longer, and to do a job longer you need to age. It's not causal, but definitely correlated.

buro9 6y ago

This is probably true. Having lived without the ability to search any random problem and have a snippet of code there, I'm used to searching for academic papers, RFCs, or reference documentation and then build up my understanding and make an implementation that way. There are times that I've not done this though, for example a couple of years ago I was struggling to comprehend how to convert some math from a paper into actual code (the symbols were more than a little odd and I swear a bit of the equation was missing) and yet searching Github revealed a repo where someone had produced snippets of different obscure algorithms. Not quite a cut and paste, but definitely a "read the answer".

djbeadle 6y ago
My secret move when I'm having trouble setting up a new library or dependency is to search for some common code from it on Github. For example, how do I use the Python requests library (bad example because it has great documentation) would lead me to searching "import requests".

paxys 6y ago

It's less about age and more about the stack you work with. I know several experienced engineers who have the entire Java library memorized, but have them work on a slightly different stack (or even a newer SDK version) and they will be blindly Googling for answers like anyone else.

P_I_Staker 6y ago

"Kids these days"

HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago

Possibly, but I don't know where the inflection point lies. Before StackOverflow was a "thing," I recall noticing that it was easier to google spec documents on an electronic component even though I had the manufacturer's databook and Application Notes just across the room. The ease of searching the pdf on google outweighed the ease of getting up and paging through the physical book. The main difference was in Application Notes: I could sit down and read some of the better ones like a novel (I'm looking at you, Analog Devices :-) and that was easier with the dead tree copy than the online one.

mixmastamyk 6y ago

Sometimes you want a discussion of the pros and cons of the various ways to tackle a problem, in order to find the best approach for your application. This kind of information is almost never in standard documentation.

ketzo 6y ago
Yep. There's nothing quite like the experience of going on Stack Overflow for a particular problem, and the "best answer" is almost what you need... but you scroll down, and there's a different version that's exactly what you need! except it's for an older version of the library... but there's a comment on that answer, from two years later, with a quick note on "if you're at version 7+, just do Y instead of X." Absolutely wonderful.
- metalforever 6y ago
  I use Reddit for this

lucb1e 6y ago

> This is an unpopular opinion [citation needed] These kinds of comments just make those who agree be sure to upvote, they're part of this perceived in-crowd after all, and most of the time (here too) it's fairly obviously true so a lot of people will upvote. Of course a newb will copy more code than a veteran. They also have very different functions in organisations on average. It's neither an opinion nor unpopular.

metalforever 6y ago
That’s not exactly what I’m saying. Veteran isn’t really the same thing as “age”. Also, I think it is pretty controversial for one to claim that some people don’t really use Stack Overflow
- lucb1e 6y ago
  > Veteran isn’t really the same thing as “age”. Of course not, but at the same time there are not that many 15-year-old gurus. It's not really the same thing, but on average people will gain more experience as they do a job for longer, and to do a job longer you need to age. It's not causal, but definitely correlated.