Finding Answers using Google

When you ask a developer for help, usually what they will do is perform a series of Google searches to find the answer. Here are some tips for getting help from Google:

Start with the basics

No matter what you’re looking for, start with a simple search like how to set color in html?. You can always add a few descriptive words if necessary.

Don’t worry about the little things

Don’t worry about spelling. Google’s spell checker automatically uses the most common spelling of a given word, whether or not you spell it correctly.

Don’t worry about capitalization. A search for HTML or CSS is the same as a search for html or css.

Find quick answers

For many searches, Google will do the work for you and show an answer to your question in the search results.

Look for credible sources

When looking through the list of results, look for sites that you have used before or sites that have credible domains. It’s better to trust information from Microsoft or Mozilla over Steve’s Web blog. If you visit sites that you don’t trust, you can get wrong information or, even worse, malware that can mess up your computer. If you don’t know whether or not to trust a site, it’s better to ask in Slack first rather or try a different site.

Some credible sites are:

• MDN web docs - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/
• W3Schools Online Web Tutorials - https://www.w3schools.com/
• CSS Tricks - https://css-tricks.com/
• Web Fundamentals - https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/
• HTML 5 Doctor - http://html5doctor.com/