What are the best tips / tricks / hacks for searching for programming related questions?

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Hi all, I am only just starting out learning to code, but I realise that there will be plenty of times where I want to google some syntax and see a reference for how to implement a feature etc.

I'm just wondering if there are any well known tips other than going in to google and smashing something in e.g. "how to make a for loop in C". Are there websites you tend to go to first, and do you do an additional website specific search on those (e.g. this website, stack overflow).

If you can't find an answer, do you tend to create questions on these sites?

Lastly, if I am making a question, what is the best way to copy and paste code so that it is nice and readable?

Thanks all!

What I have tried:

Searching blindly into google basically...

Posted 27-Jul-17 0:02am

Member 13331619

Updated 27-Jul-17 1:14am

OriginalGriff

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When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

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OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2017-07-27T00:29:00

For basic questions such as "how to make a for loop in C" then pretty much that is what you need to type. I'd leave out the English and just go for "C for loop": C for loop - Google Search[^] which will get you the same results.

For basic stuff, it doesn't matter much which site you go to, but for libraries go here: Reference - C++ Reference[^] - it covers C as well as C++ - and remember: you can set a specific site for searching with "site:" like this: "formatting datetime site:codeproject.com" which returns values only from that specific site: formatting datetime site:codeproject.com - Google Search[^]

Basically, practice your general Google-fu! This gives some useful tips: How to become an Ascended Master of Google-fu... - Cipher Mysteries[^]

Jochen Arndt · Answer 2 · 2017-07-27T01:14:00

Select some often used resources and bookmark the links:

The reference pages for the used language (e.g. cppreference.com[^] or Reference - C++ Reference[^] for C/C++).

The reference pages for used APIs (Application Program Interfaces) and third party DLLs. Like MSDN with Windows, or Qt. When using Visual Studio, you already have quick references by pressing F1 when on an API function.

These reference pages usually provide example code which should be sufficient to answer most questions. If not, try to search the web. If that does not help, ask here or elsewhere. Last resort is contacting product support or authors of used source code.

When beginning with something new, start looking for tutorials or introductions about the topic.

As already mentioned by others, searching the web and asking is a skill. The useability of search results is related to good matching search terms and the quality of answers is related to the quality of your questions.

For questions here at CP there is a FAQ: Code Project Quick Answers FAQ[^].

RickZeeland · Answer 3 · 2017-07-27T00:40:00

Here is tutorial site with a plethora of examples and online development environments: Text and Video Tutorials for UPSC, Civil Services, Banking, Aptitude, Questions, Answers, Explanation, Interview, Entrance, Exams, Solutions, Examples, Online, Quiz, Current Affairs 2017, Aptitude Test, Verbal Ability, General Knowledge, Reasoning, Mock test, Kubernetes, Spring JDBC, Java Concurrency, Spring AOP, Gerrit, Spring MVC, Indian Polity, History, Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Economy[^]

For web related stuff: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials[^]

Also GitHub is a good place to look for source code: The world's leading software development platform · GitHub[^]

What are the best tips / tricks / hacks for searching for programming related questions?

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