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Sign up with Googleis posting or asking a Q on Stackoverflow frowned upon?
- Thread starter Stillie
- Start date
I thought that was the whole point of SO? What is frowned upon is irrelevant questions or those you can solve yourself with a quick Google search or those that are more opinion/discussion than genuine questions.
Stillie
Expert Member
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yea i understand this aspect. It just got me thinking, as i met someone who is excellent as their coding career and was proud to not have posted there. Just got me thinking about it and wanted to see what other people thought of it.
I seek answers on Stack Overflow almost every day, and I'm a developer with almost 15 years of experience. If it wasn't for people seeking help or asking questions there would be no Stack Overflow. There's absolutely no shame at all in using it or posting questions on it. I would frown upon developers who don't use Stack Overflow.
I can tell you flat out, if I interviewed someone for my dev team and they were proud of never posting on Stack Overflow they would not be hired.
Nerfherder
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People can frown all they want but you will get some great advice on the site.
Generally if your question is not on SO then it means you are trying to re-invent the wheel or doing something horribly wrong.
Its never a bad thing to ask questions.
Generally if your question is not on SO then it means you are trying to re-invent the wheel or doing something horribly wrong.
Its never a bad thing to ask questions.
![[)roi(]](/forum/data/avatars/m/8/8711.jpg?1563828683){kind=avatar}
[)roi(]
Executive Member
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Why would anyone willingly cut off a valuable resource; that's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
The only reasons some SOers get irritated is that many questions are repeated almost verbatim, Google search prior to your question is therefore expected, secondly code related questions are posted without sharing any of the blocking/problematic code: which could imply you've tried nothing yourself. Beyond that it's one of the best places to get answers.
The only reasons some SOers get irritated is that many questions are repeated almost verbatim, Google search prior to your question is therefore expected, secondly code related questions are posted without sharing any of the blocking/problematic code: which could imply you've tried nothing yourself. Beyond that it's one of the best places to get answers.
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scudsucker
Executive Member
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You get the respect of your peers.
I've only posted a question 4 times I think. But not because I am a genius developer.
It's because pretty much every question has either been answered or (as a decent developer) I am able to extrapolate from someone else's similar problem to solve mine.
SO is of immense value to any developer with decent search skills.
Absolutely post and ask questions, however:
1) 99% chance though it's been answered already somewhere on the internet, get your googling skills ramped up.
2) Make sure it has not been asked on SO before
3) Post example code with your question, even if you have to create a test project to demo the issue.
4) If you figure out the answer yourself before someone answers you, be sure to update the post yourself.
1) 99% chance though it's been answered already somewhere on the internet, get your googling skills ramped up.
2) Make sure it has not been asked on SO before
3) Post example code with your question, even if you have to create a test project to demo the issue.
4) If you figure out the answer yourself before someone answers you, be sure to update the post yourself.
DA-LION-619
Honorary Master
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- Aug 22, 2009
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@Thor187
/runs
/runs
You should never be afraid of asking questions even if you have an answer but you're just looking for another perspective to spark some new thoughts.
People who look down on others for asking questions are very closed minded.
Of course you need to respect others time and not waste it needlessly.
People who look down on others for asking questions are very closed minded.
Of course you need to respect others time and not waste it needlessly.
skimread
Honorary Master
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I just wondered as I got like 1000 points and wondering if it is worthwhile spending free time on it answering questions
[)roi(]
Executive Member
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It really depends on how much credence you give to SO ranking, or whether you just help in order to grow your own capabilities.
The Protégé Effect:
http://ideas.time.com/2011/11/30/the-protege-effect/
http://www.youthcanada.ca/article/benefits-teaching-and-mentoring
neo_
Well-Known Member
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- May 20, 2015
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- 453
^ as above.
A note about experienced and/or highly-skilled developers: the more experienced you are, or the more knowledge you have, your questions on SO become much more complex, involved, and insightful (in some cases, your questions themselves teach other developers a trick or two). These questions have often not been covered before, and that alone adds great value to the platform.
Never be ashamed to ask on Stack Overflow, even if you are highly experienced. Developers all have something new to lear at the end of the day.
A note about experienced and/or highly-skilled developers: the more experienced you are, or the more knowledge you have, your questions on SO become much more complex, involved, and insightful (in some cases, your questions themselves teach other developers a trick or two). These questions have often not been covered before, and that alone adds great value to the platform.
Never be ashamed to ask on Stack Overflow, even if you are highly experienced. Developers all have something new to lear at the end of the day.
I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for help on StackOverflow, or even reading some of the issues people have into. As someone who is still learning, I find StackOverflow very useful, especially when it comes to Android.
This. Takes a certain kind of developer to be proud of this sort of thing.
They're most likely extremely stubborn and full of themselves. Dangerous to have this sort working in your team, very toxic. Been through it once,
not again.
halfmoonforever
Expert Member
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- Feb 1, 2016
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what is frowned upon (IMO) is if your question shows blatantly lack of research on your part.... I mean come on, if you had an issue, yours won't be unique and someone would have had an answer to it already. This goes the same for not being able to interpret another answer to fit within what you're trying to do.
The second thing that is frowned upon when its blatant that (from the above) you're asking for people do to the work for you. If an answer is given with pseudo code or links pointing you in the direction (some even delving into the finer side of things to help you understand the underlying concepts) and you don't accept it as an answer or refuse to understand because "it doesn't solve my problem with the code I have right now", then you're not looking for an answer, you're looking for devs to spend their free time doing your job for you
The second thing that is frowned upon when its blatant that (from the above) you're asking for people do to the work for you. If an answer is given with pseudo code or links pointing you in the direction (some even delving into the finer side of things to help you understand the underlying concepts) and you don't accept it as an answer or refuse to understand because "it doesn't solve my problem with the code I have right now", then you're not looking for an answer, you're looking for devs to spend their free time doing your job for you