Don't Be A Luser
06 Sep 2018
Going Virtual
The internet is a whole new world, virtual I should say. It has grown tremendously since its early days when things like Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, and StackOverFlow.com did not exist. Speaking of Stack Overflow, you may know it as an undesirable condition in which a particular computer program tries to use more memory space than the stack has available. Or you might know it as your best friend. The site where developers from all around the world come together to discuss what they love doing best; developing, coding, and or programming. What Stack Overflow is if you don’t know, is a place where users can ask questions in forums and discuss their knowledge on programming. It is a great and powerful place of information. But like they say in the movies, with great power comes great responsibility. Although Stack Overflow can be your knight in shining armor, it can also be your worst nightmare. Given that this is a place where most if not all programers go to, there are going to be a lot of expectations when using the site. One, if not the most important thing you should know when using Stack Overflow, is how to ask a “smart question”. Umm, whats that? Here let me try to explain.
Time is Money
Like in many aspects of life, the majority of people do not like their time being wasted. So why should the viral world be any different. We’ve all seen those questions on yahoo answers or quora and probably thought to ourself, “man these questions are dumb.” And for the most part, you’re right. Why are their questions like that? Most likely its because the person who asked the question was too lazy to spend 3-5 more research to find the answer they were looking for. I am guilty of this too, but when it comes to Stack Overflow you have to be more careful with your questions because programmers can be ruthless. When there is a “dumb” question in the forums, Stack Overflow users kick that question to the curb ASAP and leave it with a RTFM (read the ficking manual). This may seem rude, but at the same time I dont blame them. As the person asking the question, you should be able to do your research and try to find the answer yourself before going to other people and using up their time to help you. Stack Overflow is a place where you will only get out how much you put in. Meaning if you don’t put any effort into your questions, you shouldn’t expect any useful help.
Being “Smart”
Here are some ways that you can be smarter with you question asking abilities. First and foremost, do your research before resorting the forum. Your’e not the only person that codes in the world, and therefore your’e probably not the only one that experienced your certain problem. That is why you should read your manual and search the web before every asking a question. You got that, good. Now the next part is knowing how to actually ask your question. Presentation is everything, like many things in life. You could genuinely have an issue with your code, but if you phrase your question poorly, you may not receive help. A good way to prevent this from happening is having a meaningful header. This is important because the header is the first thing users see. Once you have the users attention, make sure to ask your question and go straight to the point. If you input what you think and give useful information, you are wasting peoples time again. When asking a question be precise and straight to the point. Report your problems as they did chronologically and state only facts, not guesses.
Good & Bad Examples
This question is an example of a bad question. It is a solvable question if the user did more research or if he read the manual. No one has bothered to answer it because no one wants to waste their time answering a question that is solvable if the user took the time to do more research.