the hitchhiker’s guide to stackoverflow
TRANSCRIPT
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to StackOverflow
WHAT’S STACKOVERFLOW (SO)?
for those of you who are new here on earth, SO is a brilliant ‘questions and answers’ site for programmers. So far so good, BUT….
Watch out from newbie mistakes , the community can be cruel!
“I’LL TAKE ‘THE SAME OLD QUESTIONS’ FOR 200, ALEX”
Check if your question was already posted - on the website search engine or on a Google search
Especially avoid asking basic questions, easily solved by any tutorial online
The community hates to see the same question over and over again
The STACKOVERFLOW DOG DID MY HOMEWORK
Don’t ask the community to do the programming work for you
For the very least, don’t mask it - be honest and tell it to the community
“A friend gave me this task” you say…
THE STACKOVERFLOW DOG DID MY HOMEWORK – CONT.
Don’t just ‘dump’ your code and expect magic. Do some research andbe specific when asking your questions:
Explain what is the specific nature of your problem?
What exactly are you struggling with?
What have you already tried to do on your own?
ARE WE TELEPATHIC OR ARE WE DANCERS? Provide the full context of your question, otherwise Stackoverflow’sfrustrated users will leave nasty comments or even vote to close the question
A concrete example of a question with just the error, no code or details supplied
Examples of StackOverflow comments
A JURY OF YOUR OWN PEERS
StackOverflow is moderated by the community.
How to properly moderate SO and how to act according to the community rules are skills with their own learning curve…
ReputationPower
+
Influence
Your reputation (‘Likes’ to your questions, answers, edits and so on) gains you power and influence (the option to comment, review, and even delete posts).
A JURY OF YOUR OWN PEERS – CONT.
But remember, you’re always under scrutiny, even after you gain enough power. No one has a free pass…
If you make too many mistakes or you are disputed by others too often, you get warned and penalized.
A JURY OF YOUR OWN PEERS – CONT.
A JURY OF YOUR OWN PEERS – CONT.
Every first timer’s post, be it a question or an answer, is immediately moved to a review stage
Important issues are flagged and are passed on for moderation by users with higher reputations
‘Bad’ posts are marked by users as “unsalvageable” and get passed on
The fate of a post is never left to a single user’s discretion – there are plenty of members moderating it and plenty of opportunities to moderate:
WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME
Become an engaged member:
Grow your reputation and get badges
Don’t forget that sometimes you need to be “the bad cop” to support the SO quality
