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Knowing the answers vs. knowing where to find them

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to watch this absolutely zany science program called Beakman’s World. Here’s a clip, if you’re not familiar with it.

It was super engaging, and I learned a lot from watching it. But the biggest thing that stuck with me was something Beakman used to often say to the audience (I’m paraphrasing here):

Being a scientist isn’t about knowing all the answers. It’s about knowing how to find them.

And so it goes with JavaScript, too.

Being a great developer isn’t about knowing all the answers to every problem that’s thrown at you.

It means that you know how to solve those problems. You have systems and processes for working through them. You know break problems down into small parts, debug issues, and research possible solutions.

The best developers I know Google things almost every day.