Google Tips for Python
People frequently have trouble finding stuff on the Python websites. Sometimes they are just too lazy to search. Other times they don't shine a light in the proper corner. Google pokes in every corner, but you sometimes need a little help coaxing information out of it. This page gives a few idioms useful for searching Google effectively for content on the Python websites.
Searching a Single Site
Google enables you to restrict your search to a single site.
site:www.python.org spam
will search www.python.org for 'spam'.
The next few sub-sections illustrate handy examples.
Searching Mailing Lists
site:mail.python.org listname terms
Search for discussions of packages in python-dev: site:mail.python.org python-dev packages
Search for BDFL pronouncements in python-list: site:mail.python.org python-list guido pronouncement
Searching the Library Reference Manual
site:www.python.org library reference terms
Search for information about regular expressions: site:www.python.org library reference regular expressions
Search for examples of using the logging module: site:www.python.org library reference logging example
Searching the Language Reference Manual
site:www.python.org reference manual terms
Search for reference description of list comprehensions: site:www.python.org reference manual list comprehension
Searching the PEPs
site:www.python.org PEP terms
* Search for PEP 289: site:www.python.org PEP 289
* Search for PEPs about rational numbers: site:www.python.org PEP Rational
Searching for a Phrase
If you simply type your seach terms into the google search box, google will return pages that use all of your search terms, no matter where they occur. If, instead, you surround your search terms with double quote marks, you will get back an exact-phrase search.
Thus, searching for
python wiki engine
will return any pages that mention all three terms, many of which won't be about python wiki engines, per se. By contrast, a search for
"python wiki engine"
will only return pages which uses this exact phrase.