Phenquestions
The search engine DuckDuckGo is working on improving results for programming related search queries using its instant answers feature.
If you are a programmer, especially when you are just starting out, you probably search for information and code examples regularly.
Even if you learn using one of those "getting started" books, chance is high that questions remain unanswered.
Search is one option to get answers. There are others obviously, for instance to join a community like Stadck Overflow to get answers for questions that you may have.
Still, sometimes it is just a simple thing that you require an answer for. Maybe you want to know more about the syntax of a property or command, or a basic example to better understand how you'd use something in your own code.
DuckDuckgo Programmer's Search Engine
DuckDuckGo's Instant Answers feature is not new. It provides you with direct answers on the search results page. While those may not always be sufficient to answer all questions you may have, they sometimes are sufficient. This means that you won't have to click on sites listed in the results in hope of finding the answer you are looking for listed on them.
The search engine company started a new project to become the best search engine for programmers a couple of months ago.
The main idea is to use Instant Answers to provide programmers with direct answers for search queries.
The teams concentrate on the fix languages JavaScript, CSS, Python, Perl and Swift currently with all partially supported already.
If you search for CSS Font or CSS Transition on DuckDuckGo for instance, you will get examples and information right at the top of the results. There is a "show more" link usually that you need to click on to display all information.
While some functions and properties are supported already, others are not. It is a hit and miss currently but support will get better over time.
Links are provided that lead to the Internet resource the information was taken from. These resources often offer more extensive information, and you may want to open them if the instant answer leaves questions unanswered.
Instant answers cannot answer all questions that you may have about a supported programming language. They do answer basic questions though, especially about the syntax and that is sometimes all that is required.
It seems likely that DuckDuckGo will add more programming languages to its instant answers feature once it completes integrating current ones.
Now You: If you have programming related questions: what do you do or where do you go?
