Tips for New Programmers – Part 3: Learn to Search for Solutions
An uncomfortable truth: 70% of my time as a Senior programmer is spent reading, not writing.
I read other people’s code, I read documentation, and above all, I read answers on the Internet.
One of the biggest myths when you start is believing that a “good programmer” is one who writes code at the speed of light without looking at any reference, like in 90s hacker movies.
The reality is very different. A programmer’s most important superpower is not their memory, it’s their research ability.
In this third part of the series, we’re going to see how to google like a professional.
🔍 1. The Art of “Googling”
Searching on Google seems obvious, but there’s a huge difference between a vague search and a sniper search.
❌ Beginner Search
“my code doesn’t work help” “javascript error”
✅ Professional Search
“TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading ‘map’) React useEffect” “center div css grid vs flexbox performance”
Tricks for effective searches:
- Include technological context: Always mention the language, framework, or library. A “null pointer” error is not solved the same way in Java as in C++.
- Copy the error, but clean the specific parts:
- Good:
Error: fail to connect to server at port 8080 - Bad:
Error: fail to connect to server at port 8080 user JONATTHAN_MEDALLA(remove paths from your PC or usernames).
- Good:
- Use operators:
"exact error"(in quotes) searches for that literal phrase.site:stackoverflow.comsearches only on that site.after:2025searches for recent results (very useful for frameworks that change quickly like Next.js).
📚 2. Stack Overflow: Survival Manual
Eventually you’ll arrive at Stack Overflow. It’s the Library of Alexandria of code. But be careful, it can be a hostile place if you don’t know how to navigate it.
How to read an answer
Don’t go straight to the code to copy and paste (although we all do it).
- Look at the date: An answer from 2013 about JavaScript probably uses
varand obsolete techniques. Look for answers post-2020 (ES6+). - Look at the votes: The accepted answer (✅) is the one that helped the original author, but sometimes the second answer has more votes and is a better or more modern solution.
- Read the comments: Sometimes the real gem is in a small comment that says: “This stopped working in version 18, use this instead…”.
📖 3. Lose the Fear of Documentation
Many juniors avoid official documentation (“The Docs”) because it’s usually technical, dry, and boring. They prefer a 20-minute YouTube tutorial.
The problem is that the video becomes obsolete; documentation is the source of truth.
Strategy for reading docs:
Don’t try to read it like a novel, from beginning to end. Use it like a dictionary.
- Go to the “Getting Started” or “Quick Start” section to install and see a “Hello World”.
- Search in the sidebar for the specific API you need (e.g.,
Array.prototype.map). - Copy the official code example and modify it little by little.
🤖 4. AI as Assistant (The New Era)
Nowadays, tools like ChatGPT or Claude are incredible for explaining errors.
Golden tip: Instead of telling it “write the code for me”, tell it “explain why this fails”. If you only copy what the AI gives you, you don’t learn. If you ask it to explain the error, you gain knowledge for next time.
🎯 Conclusion
Don’t feel bad about having 20 browser tabs open searching how to make a for loop. It’s part of the job.
Your value as a developer is not in what you memorize, but in how quickly you can understand a new problem and find who already solved it before.
Happy coding! 🚀
Tips for New Programmers Series:
- Part 1: Stay Focused!
- Part 2: Consistency
- Part 3: Learn to Search for Solutions (You are here)
