Think Again Before Posting That Question!

12 Sep 2024

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Introduction

Learning how to communicate with each other is one of the most important skills to develop. We are always encouraged by our professors to ask questions, whether they’re smart or not so smart. Stack Overflow is a popular online forum where software engineers can ask and answer questions. I set out to find out why smart questions tend to do better than the not-so-smart ones.

Smart Questions

During my Electrical Engineering Master’s Project, I was working with several IP locations and needed to find a way to plot them in Python. With Stack Overflow, I was able to complete the project in a timely manner. When the post has a good title (“How can I geolocate a bunch of IP addresses with Python?”) with detailed descriptions, the reader is able to find answers quickly and be satisfied.

Not-so-Smart Questions

On the other hand, we will see how a “not-so-smart” question doesn’t perform that well. The user writes a very brief description of their homework assignment, a small portion of their code, an input and output, and expects the rest of us to know what he wants to help on. As a result, this post got a downvote and only a few answers. This is a great example demonstrating that if you ask “not-so-smart” questions, you won’t be happy with the engagement you receive from others and not be as productive.

This is why it is crucial to be clear and provide as much detail as you can about your problem. Smart questions spark meaningful conversations with people, allowing everyone to learn something from each other.