Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack Overflow

Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by codinghorror on Thursday December 28, 2017 @02:40AM (#16020873)

The people who are dissatisfied invariably ask opinion based questions. That is not what Stack Overflow is for. Sure, there is always more than one way to do it, and any good SO question often has three solid viable answers — but if there are dozens? hundreds? .. it’s no longer a question, but a bikeshed type discussion.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by user5994461 on Thursday December 28, 2017 @12:15PM (#16023301)

>>> any good SO question often has three solid viable answers

the first viable answer is giving you the solution, except it doesn't work because the API has changed many years ago.

the second viable answer is telling you that you don't want to do that and it's certainly wrong to try.

the third viable answer is a guy advertising to use another library for just that. (Just because you use C++ doesn't mean you have boost or Qt available but fair enough).

The fourth viable answer is a guy advertising for his own library to solve that same problem. It may or may not be shameless advertising. The github link is dead half the time.

The topic is closed. It will never be possible to post the right valid answer to that problem.

Answers cannot be edited. They will rot forever and mislead an entire new generation.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by erezyehuda on Thursday December 28, 2017 @03:35PM (#16024702)

What do you mean by "answers cannot be edited"? They definitely can be, and not just by the person who posted it. I've updated an older answer or two.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by codinghorror on Friday December 29, 2017 @11:44PM (#16033884)

Completely incorrect. You can edit answers as an anonymous user and have been able to since.. 2010-ish?

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by nix0n on Thursday December 28, 2017 @10:41AM (#16022551)

What is the correct place for opinion based questions, when you want a technical opinion to help you solve a specific technical problem?

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by codinghorror on Friday December 29, 2017 @11:44PM (#16033888)

Anywhere but Stack Overflow. It is a great big Internet!

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by narag on Thursday December 28, 2017 @01:00PM (#16023632)

The people who are dissatisfied invariably ask opinion based questions.

I never ask questions in SO. To be honest, I'm not dissatisfied either, I just gave up. When I saw a question for which I knew the exact answer, I was unable to answer because... I don't know. I wasn't reputable enough to answer and I couldn't get a reputation because I couldn't answer. Or something like that, I don't remember or I don't care. I just google for answers.

So I would reconsider the "invariably". But that's just my two cents.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by codinghorror on Friday December 29, 2017 @11:43PM (#16033883)

Completely incorrect, you can answer any question as a brand new user. As another commenter pointed out, maybe you meant commenting? Which isn’t answering the question, but leaving a post-it note on an existing answer or question.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by posterboy on Thursday December 28, 2017 @07:59PM (#16026597)

you need rep to comment, so maybe the question you have in mind was in a comment.

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by sideshowb on Thursday December 28, 2017 @05:37AM (#16021335)

Personally I get dissatisfied when over zealous mods fail to follow stack overflow's own guidelines on subjective questions. It would be a better site if, before closing a question as subjective, a user had to scroll down this and click "agree": https://stackoverflow.blog/2010/09/29/good-subjective-bad-su...

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Re:Evidence-Based Guidelines for Writing Questions on Stack ... by codinghorror on Friday December 29, 2017 @11:46PM (#16033889)

Well, sort of, but it is a complex, slippery slope and easiest to just avoid the realm of opinion altogether.

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