Asking Questions The Smart Way
29 Jan 2020Being able to communicate effectively is the most important of all life skills. Having strong communication skills aids in different aspects of life, such as from our professional to personal life, and all in between. It allows others to understand us and vice versa accurately and receive answers clearly. In relative of being a software engineer, communication is one of the most important skills to develop and by asking questions the ‘smart way’, it will help software engineers continually succeed in what they do.
StackOverflow
What is StackOverflow? Stack Overflow is a public question and answer site for “professional and enthusiast programmers”. It features questions and answers on a wide range of topics in computer programming. In general, it allows people and programmers alike to be able to ask questions and receive answers from a wide range of people. By asking questions the ‘smart way’, the questions leads to both efficient and effective help. But, by asking questions the ‘not smart way’, the questions does not lead to efficient and effective help. There lacks communication between the person asking the question and the people trying to answer the question. It may make the question more confusing, and probably result in no answers. To help me form a deeper understanding of what constitutes ‘smart’ and ‘not smart’ questions, I have searched in StackOverflow demonstrating both and seeing how much more or less effective and efficient the answers are.
The ‘Smart Way’
Here is the link of a question that I searched in StackOverflow submitted by a developer that demonstrates the ‘smart way’. I think this post is a good example of asking a question the ‘smart way’. First, the developer mention the programming language that their code is in. It allows the community who knows the language to answer the question. Then, the developer mentions the problem they are experiencing. They also include the code, and explicitly tells the community what’s going on. Based on my observations, the question is precise and informative. Since the question was informative, the answer given was also informative. They were specific and explained what happened, and was able to give examples to further their understanding. By asking questions the ‘smart way’, it also helps other people with similar questions.
The ‘Not Smart Way’
Here is the link of a question that I searched in StackOverflow submitted by a developer that demonstrates the ‘not smart way’. I think this post is a good example of asking a question the ‘not smart way’. One of the red flags I noticed in this question is that how the question is “urgent”. By claiming urgency, it can be counter-productive. It feels rushed and it is likely for the question to not be answered on time. Another thing I’ve noticed in this post was that it’s not written in clear, grammatical, correctly spelled language. It makes the question difficult to understand; The question seems sloppy and not worth the time to answer. Since the question was not asked the ‘smart way’, it leads to not effective and efficient help. With that in mind, the answer that was given was not helpful. They responded that they should search on Google. Overall, seeing this post demonstrates to me of what not to do when asking questions. I want to receive an answer that is precise and informative.
From this experience, I had the opportunity to understand of what to do and what not to do when asking questions. If I want to receive an answer that is precise and informative, I need to also be precise and informative on my question and be descriptive. Overall, by asking questions the ‘smart way’, it will help me succeed as a software engineer, and get the help I need.