Do newbies google ?

Question

Do newbies google ?

Dave Ballantyne

SSC-Dedicated

Points: 33667
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July 6, 2009 at 5:33 am

#223260

Hi All ,
Im in the process of creating an article for the UK user group website (sqlserverfaq.com) as a sort of an annotated mini-faq.
My aim is to create links out to Anith's concat , Erland dynamic sql , Tibors date pages and just a few other 'quality' pages that every TSQL developer will really need to know before their system crashes, burns and grinds to a halt.
My question is : With these links already widely available and easy to search for on google, am I wasting my time ? What do you think could help newbies to find an answer to their queries ?

Clear Sky SQL
My Blog[/url]

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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Ian Scarlett SSC-Insane Points: 23197 More actions · Answer 1

Having all these links in a central place is a good idea, but they are more likley to be seen by the veterans than the newbies.

The newbies seem to have found their way to this site, so having those articles figure prominently on this site should be more advantageuous.

I think the answer to the question in the title of your post is emphatically NO.

In a huge number of cases, BOL or Google can provide the answer instantly.

Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323518 More actions · Answer 2

I think a lot of new posters don't have the experience/confidence to make sense of a quality article found on google, and are looking for the teacher/mentor to really rub their nose in the answer until they understand it;

I think it's the post where we put a code example based on their data that benefits them the most...they knew what the data was, and can run a snippet that we provide to help them with the concepts. Not everyone starting out can look at a sample article and tweak it for their own needs...at least not right away.

I think that over time,as the new posters becomes confident enough with TSQL, they google more and post fewer questions, or the quality of their questions goes up and requires more details.

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

WayneS SSC Guru Points: 95461 More actions · Answer 3

Lowell... very good insight there. I had not considered this... I just assumed that they ran here.

Wayne
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes

If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!

Links:
For better assistance in answering your questions
Performance Problems
Common date/time routines
Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736627 More actions · Answer 4

I think lots of people Google, but lots of them don't know a) how to search and b)there are too many results.

I've seen people try to search, and the terms they've used sometimes don't make sense. There's a bit of an art to searching, and while I'm not an expert, I think that experience trying things and finding results have helped me. With lots of searches, I've also learned what a "good" result it. There are lots of people that don't know how to judge what a good result is. Google gives too many results, and if you're a newbie, how do you know what a good answer is?

Having the information compiled, especially if you add a note or two to it, gives others confidence.

Dave Ballantyne SSC-Dedicated Points: 33667 More actions · Answer 5

Thanks for the insight guys, its not easy this article writing is it 🙂

Clear Sky SQL
My Blog[/url]