Jordan Schreuder

Asking the Right Questions

Since starting phase0 of Dev Boot Camp, I frequently find myself searching for answers to my coding questions on the web. Thankfully the community of programmers that have gone before me have left an impressive array of resources and community forums to make this slightly easier. In fact, the amount of information out there on the web even for something like a specific programming language is so vast, that formulating the right question becomes important in the interest of wading through the surplus of erroneous information.

There are essentially 3 core reasons why I ask questions when I am coding.

• I need to refresh on syntax before writing a block of code
• I wrote a section of code that is throwing an error message
• I wrote a section of code that doesn't execute the way I intended

Obviously, since syntax differs across programming languages its really important to include the language you are working in when asking a question. Asking How do I write for loops in (insert language)? will give you different answers depending on the language you are working in. Of course, not specifying any language is just as bad, since neither the internet nor other programmers can read minds, and will likely just spit out the langugae in which this question is most frequently asked.

Generally speaking, this is an important principle in asking questions as well. When formulating questions, you want to pretend you know nothing about what you are currently working on, and ask yourself if your question gives the reader enough context to understand what you need help on. Some of the questions you may want to ask are as follows:

• Did I specify what language/topic I am working on?
• Did I specify what my code is actually doing?
• Did I specify what I want/expect my code to do?
• Is there an example I could provide or sample code that will illustrate my point?
• Are there any special constraints or circumstances I need to specify? Is this a MAC or PC issue? Is the problem happening in a specific browser or program? & etc.

Certainly I am being a little specific to coding questions, but these principles generally apply to most problems. To help illustrate my point, I have included some examples of good questions and bad questions below, some of which I have personally learned to avoid by experience

Bad Questions

• How do I add elements to an array?
• Why isn't my header working?
• Javascript big numbers
• creating a database

Good Questions

• How do I add elements to an array in Javascript?
• How do I fix an element to the top of the page using css?
• What's the highest value an integer can be wihout losing precision in javascript?
• How do I create tables in SQLite3?

You get the idea. If a segment of code is throwing an error, its often easiest to simply copy and paste the error message into google and find resources to help you out. In the absence of specific error messages, just remember the guidelines above for formulating questions and you'll be fine. Lastly, especially as posts get longer, remember to format and check spelling and grammar. You want to draw as much attention as possible to what you are trying to say, and not to the way you are trying to say it.