Being able to reach out for help is a crucial skill for anyone who is trying to work and succeed in a respective field. Everyone will inevitably encounter a problem that will be impossible to solve alone. There are many ways to go about seeking help, but today the most common method is asking a question online. Did you know the average person makes just about four Google searches a day? Especially in Software Engineering, where the material is very technical, asking clear questions is fundamental in receiving clear answers. StackOverflow is the right place to be, but one’s question must be able to stand out amongst the thousands of general inquiries found on the site. It is ultimately up to the user to access the information in an effective and canny way.
The link above is a question posted by a StackOverflow user and it is a perfect example of how not to ask questions online. To start, the subject header “Javascript Merge keys and values” does not give collaborators much insight into exactly what is going wrong. Having an appropriate title is perhaps the most important step in creating a “smart question”. The title we have here is simply too generalized and not specific enough. This may give a basic overview of what the problem may be about, but can be interpreted differently from collaborators. The post itself does not even ask a question, but rather just has output attempts of some code and a statement of how it is supposed to be formatted. There is no explanation of what the user tried doing or no specific details on what the code is actually doing. When the post was first published, there was no source code along with the output and was eventually added when responders asked for additional information on the problem. The question was so bad that some responses were “You have shown us no rules for the transformation whatsoever.” and “Can give us what you have tried and, question looks confusing.” People are arguing over the question itself rather than even attempting to answer it. Overall, this is a weak question, but is a great case of what one should not do.
This second link is an example of how asking questions properly can result in useful information. The title “How to set up a CSS switcher” is short, is just enough information to attract experts. Once inside the actual body of the question, the user goes in-depth on what exactly needs to be fixed technically. The source code was included and showed the user’s attempts and what they were going to try next. In the end, a helpful solution was posted and lead the user in the right steps of solving the problem.
Concluding, the Internet is the greatest information bank known to man and helps millions of people to solve their problems everyday. It is those who know how to properly reach out to others who get the most useful answers. The smartest people are those who know how to put down their egos and ask relavent questions. The content within the Internet is virtually endless and with practice anyone can harness its power.