You’ve been here a million times. You’ve got some code to commit in about 8 hours and it’s crunch-time; if you don’t finish now your entire career and reputation will be all but dust. Everything is going fine until you reach that one bug, that one stubborn compilation error that just won’t vanish. You cry out in anguish, frantic to find any solution to your problem. Like anyone else stuck between a rock and a hard place, you turn to the Internet, that almighty bibliotheca of instant gratification. “Oh my god!! How do I solve this!!1! Help!” is the title of your query on StackExchange - surely that will get a response, right? Wrong, and by the end of this essay, you’ll see why.
The community that you are asking for help are largely volunteers. StackExchange does not monetize the forums for people who answer questions, so you’re running on their personal time. Everything about your post needs to be concise, obvious, and appreciative. In addition to these, the most important quality of them all is that it appears as though YOU committed as much time the problem as you expect someone else to. So a half-a$$ed, pathetic question is more likely to piss off a potential answerer than anything.
I’ll show you. Open the link below in a new tab, split the screen, and behold a post which exemplifies the qualities of a good question, and a good answer.
Here’s why this is so good. First, the title obviously communicates the objective, the problem, and the platform. Just from the title you know what tool/software is having the problem, what the user is generally trying to do but cannot do because they encountered the problem, and, you probably guessed it by now, THE PROBLEM. It’s crazy how many posts are some variation of “Help!!”. Looking at the post itself, the OP provides source code, a list of solutions that he’s tried, and an open attitude to criticism of his shortcomings. When he comes back to update the post, he does so clearly, and effectively. All of these facets lead to a beautiful answer, one that is also detailed and pleasant. This exchange is one of the best you can find, and a golden example of how asking smart questions leads to smart answers.
Absolutely. Go ahead and close that other tab, and pop this one up side by side to see what the problem is.
Unless it has changed since the time of me publishing this essay, our poor friend here has gotten 0 answers. I’m sure you can see why. The title is uninformative and vague, yet oddly and esoterically confusing at the same time. The question is worse; it honestly sounds like he’s just asking “how do I code this thing I have to code?”. Even if that is what he’s asking, he has provided no resources, no context, and no list of solutions he already tried. This post is pretty much spam, and will be treated as such by anyone looking to answer questions. Whether its a lack of awareness or a language barrier, I sure hope that our friend here gets that problem solved, or at least figures out the right way to ask someone for help in solving it.
Great! Smarter questions == Smarter answers == completed projects == money. So, go on ahead, use what you’ve learned to master the help forums of the internet. Always research and try a few things yourself first, and when you absolutely need to reach out, make it as easy for people to help you as humanly possible, because inconveniencing someone on their free time means no answer. Coding is always more fun when you make it good for everyone. Good luck, and happy forum searching!