Do Google employees use Stack Overflow?

Long story short: developers all over the world use Google and StackOverflow daily, and there is nothing in that to be ashamed of. In fact, one should be proud of the time saved looking up the details of a specific implementation.

Would I get fired at Google or another big tech firm if I got caught using Stack Overflow as a reference?

Originally Answered: Would I get fired at Google (or another big tech firm) if I got caught using StackOverflow as a reference? No, but you might get fired if you don’t! You are not expected to memorize everything, all languages and available functions. You are expected to write great code.

Is it okay to Google while coding?

The resounding answer is YES, experienced (and good) programmers use Google… a lot. Using Google doesn’t make them bad programmers or imply that they cannot code without Google. In fact, truth is quite the opposite: Google is an essential part of their software development toolkit and they know when and how to use it.

How often do software engineers use Google?

Therefore, programmers should use google as frequently as they need. Sometimes this could be 10 times a day, 10 times a morning, or 10 times an hour.

Do experienced programmers use Google?

The resounding answer is YES, experienced (and good) programmers use Google… a lot. In fact, one might argue they use it more than the beginners. Using Google doesn’t make them bad programmers or imply that they cannot code without Google.

Why should I hire a software engineer instead of Stack Overflow?

Because copying and pasting code from Stack Overflow isn’t software engineering. If you don’t need a software engineer, don’t hire one. But if you do, don’t think that you can conjure the work and knowledge necessary out of a few blogs and SO posts. You discover that you have a cancerous tumor on your fingertip.

Why is software engineering so simple to an outsider?

In short, software engineering might appear simple to an outsider because an outsider doesn’t know what they don’t know. So if you wish for your project to have longevity, success, scalability, maintainability, connectivity, testability, repeatability, timeliness, and long term adoption, don’t try copying and pasting code from blogs.

Should you learn data structures and algorithms in an interview?

Top tech companies like Google and Microsoft often ask questions about data structures and algorithms in their interviews. So, you should learn them if you haven’t yet. To learn the basics, I’d recommend my video series on data structures and algorithms.