Idiots Are Silly, Don't Be One

Don’t Be An Idiot

Introduction

You were probably sent here because you asked a question somewhere someplace and were given the instructions to read through this document first before proceeding to ask another question.

It’s not your fault that you were stupid enough to ask such a question in the first place. It happens.

The key takeaway point of this page is to learn what not to ask. Once you can tackle that part down you’ll be good to go. If you don’t understand what that even means? Well don’t worry we’ll get there.

Over the years I’ve spent countless hours on websites geared in a Q&A approach to a community. Person A asks a question that is answered by persons B and C and so forth. I’ve learned a few things from reading peoples comments and have decided to write down what I’ve learned so that you, dear reader, will know what not to do.

Tools

You have tools around you. Use Them. I can’t stress this enough. Before you even think about asking a question do the following:

Search the forum you’re about to ask the question on

I’m sure ten to one someone someplace has asked that question before, and there’s an answer just waiting to jump out at you. To be honest, I’ve never had to ask a question on a message forum for coding because I’ve always done a search before hand and have found the answer through searching. (It helps that I don’t like talking to people I don’t know but that’s a different story for another time.) The search box is there for a reason. I’m sure they don’t enjoy people cluttering up their database with the same question over and over again. People won’t enjoy seeing the same question asked over and over again either.

Google Is Your Friend

Yes, use Google. You know how to google right? Most people do. If you don’t? I’d suggest you learn. Please note, you’re not limited to Google. You can use other search eingines: Yahoo!, Bing, DuckDuckGo. Again, there’s a reason your internet browser can visit pages so you can perform search results.

RTFM

You know what RTFM stands for right? Well it stands for Read The Fucking Manual. Oh that offended you? I’m sorry. Well you should follow its advice. It’s more than advice though really. You should really read the manual. You have a question about the programming language you’re learning? You have a book right? If you don’t have a book how are you learning the language to begin with? Go read that manual. Search through it. You’ll find the answer. If not? Steps one and two above should be very useful. Guess what! There’s a reason you have a manual. So you can read it!

Please refer back to your manuals on a regular basis. They tend to get lonely after not ever being read. Don’t think you’re smarter than the book. You aren’t there yet. Trust me on this.

Asking Questions

So you actually do have a question that you’ve not found an answer to. You’ve followed all of the steps in the previous section and you just really can’t find an answer to your question. That’s okay. It happens. Now is the time to ask the question. There are some things to keep in mind though:

Be Polite

Yep use manners. Be nice to people when you’re asking a question. What appears to be a disaster on your side of the world isn’t even anything remotely as urgent to others. Don’t be demanding of others. Respect them as people and respect their space.

People might not respond

People have lives. They might not have the time to even answer your question. The place you’re asking for it is free advice. You’re not paying them for their knowledge. It’s all volunteer hours. Not everyone will respond to your question. They could be busy, or they could be asleep. Heck they just might not know the answer off the top of their head at the moment.

If someone doesn’t respond right away to your question. Or if they don’t respond at all. Don’t get bent out of shape. People don’t have any reason to answer your question. If they don’t want to answer they aren’t required to.

Don’t repost your question

Once you have asked your question, don’t repost it to another forum on the site. You’ve already asked your question once. That should be sufficient. People will see your question. Reposting your question will just tick someone off and that might drive them not to even answer your question at all.

Choose the forum for your question wisely

Pick the appropriate place to ask your question. If you have a newb question about how to do x in program y, ask it in the right place. Don’t seek out the advanced/highly skilled forum for your question. They will ignore your question and mock you.

Don’t ask a homework question

Homework is called that for a reason. It’s there for you to learn. If you expect someone else to do your work for you why are you even learning it? It won’t get you far when you land a job. Simply don’t expect someone else to come up with the code for your homework problem. That’s called cheating.

Show that you tried

If you’re asking a question regarding a programming question you’re attempting to tackle at least show the source code for the problem you’re having. This falls under the idea of don’t make someone else write code for you. You’re programming something, that’s great. You’re stuck somewhere. that’s fine too. Show where you’re stuck and go from there.

Show relevant code

If you do show source code, show the relevant code that is failing you. Don’t shove every line of code that your project contains into a forum. 99.9% of that code won’t even be useful to your current problem. If the error is in a method, post the method. Get that method fixed. Don’t throw useless junk in there that isn’t needed.

Getting Questions Answered

So you’ve asked a good smart question and have an answer back. Now what?

Be Grateful

Just how you were polite when you asked the question, you need to be polite when you get answers. Even if t hey don’t answer your question the way you expect or want it to be answered. It’s showing that someone is taking an interest in helping you. Don’t shoot that gift horse in the mouth. Be nice to them. Thank them for their answer.

Accept The Answer

If the answer that is provided is what you’re in need of accept it. It’s common courtesy to do so. That way people will know that the question has been resolved and no further answers are necessary. Some sites have a ranking value next to the answers. Use it. Accept it as the proper answer for your question. It lets other people know what’s going on.