First of all, what is Google-Fu?
From Wiktionary: Skill in using search engines (especially Google) to quickly find useful information on the Internet.
Why learn Google-Fu?
In Why Learning to Code is So Damn Hard Erik Trautman mentions having excellent Google-Fu as being one of the keys to being job ready and to entering the “Upswing of Awesome.”
What Google-Fu means to me is being able to find information I want quickly and easily.
Here are a few of my Google-Fu techniques:
- I type in the specific technology I am searching for, i.e. “AngularJS.” Sometimes it is helpful when I type in something more specific like the version of the technology, i.e. “AngularJS 1.4.”
- I type slowly so that Google Auto Complete can make suggestions. I pay attention to these suggestions because oftentimes the search terms are better than the one I had in mind.
- I sometimes search books using Google. Usually only previews are shown, but a few times that information is so useful that I end up checking that book out from the library.
- To learn concepts, I often type “in plain English” or “explain to a child,” i.e. “explain closures to a child.”
- I like to search YouTube for tutorial videos. I just make sure that the video has high ratings and I briefly scan the comments section to see if there is lots of praise, questions, or complaints.
- If Google is not providing adequate results, I will turn to Info.com. This provides results from multiple search engines.
Additional Resources:
How to Google like a boss
How to get help when you get stuck
Learning by Google
How to Get Free Coding Help
Helpful Resources to Learn How to Code
bryanttunbutr 
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