Appreciation post: That moment I found out how much of coding is just Googling mistakes

Honestly, I was looking up why my Python loop kept throwing an error and stumbled on a stat that said most professional devs Google stuff like 20 times a day. I was shocked because I thought real coders just memorized everything. Found it on a Stack Overflow blog post while scrolling through answers. Has anyone else felt way better about themselves after realizing everyone's just looking stuff up?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.nina4d ago

Wait, but isn't memorizing the basics literally what separates a good coder from someone just faking it? If you can't remember how to open a file or loop through a list without Google, you're probably going to write slower, buggier code. I wasted an hour last week because I kept copy-pasting a regex from Stack Overflow without truly understanding it, and it broke my whole app. The time you save by actually knowing your syntax and common patterns is huge. Plus, when you're in a job interview or pair programming, nobody's going to let you just pull out your phone and start searching.

the_wren4d ago

The only thing I've memorized is the exact feeling of shame when my browser history is just "how to fix" plus whatever I broke that morning.