Code-as-Documentation & IDE Search: Power!
Did you ever download the source code for any of your project dependencies? This is by far one of the most powerful things I find myself doing when I need single-source-of-truth references.
When using IDE search + searching across project files, consider:
- Paths, filenames, extensions
- Exclusion and inclusion matchers
- Refining your search
- Using your creativity (ie. replacing full-strings with their sub-string versions help generate more distinct search results)
Combine these as needed to create results that don’t overwhelm your brain.
Search Engines as AI-Precursors
The best developers still excell at an age old wizardry: show off their googling ninja skills.
Here are some of my favorites that do not age with time:
- RTFD – read the f$@#% docs (yeh, just google the docs, dammit!)
- [keyword] + changelog
- [keyword] + release notes
- [keyword] + github awesome
- [keyword] + eli5
- [keyword] + gotchas
- [keywoard] + cheat sheet
- [keyword] + cookbook
- [keyword] + getting started
- site:[https://hackernews.com/] + [keyword]
- [keyword] + “deep dive” or “under the hood”
- [company name] + “engineering blog”
- [keyword] + “style guide” (ie. airbnb javascript style guide)
- [keyword] + “proposal” or “rfc”
- time-bound Google searches (Google Tools -> Time)
The last one can be helpful when most of the examples you find are quickly outdated.
It’s worth noting about Github Topics.
This is one of the easiest ways to rabbit hole yourself when doing research. It remains to be seen whether vibe-coded apps will create noise here.