Of course I can always ask on the web, but having to break off from coding, pose a question, and then wait for it to get answered before I can continue really breaks up my learning curve.
[0] People will be a lot more helpful if they know you are trying to learn, rather than posting a "send me teh codes plz" request. Also they will hopefully give you just enough of a hint and not spoil the whole thing for you.
This.
I often find that I run into a problem, try to solve it on my own, then bring someone unfamiliar in to get a fresh set of eyes on it. It usually goes like this
Me: "Hey, I honestly can't figure out why this is doing this particular thing, can you take a look? <start explaining problem here in detail> ...FUCK! Nevermind, I know exactly whats going on. Thanks for your help"
Person I asked: "Huh?Uh sure? I can solve problems with my presence alone"
It seemed ridiculous, but it worked wonders. Most of the time said professor didn't have to open his mouth. It was just a matter of organizing your thoughts in a coherent way.
There's a wiki article about it here:
Then I get to stamp something 'solved' on my task list, and everybody's happy.
I've been programming professionally for almost 20 years. What you described right there is the fundamental skill/activity I have performed. Whether waiting for a spec, or decision if this feature is going in, or most commonly like your self looking for answer to some problem I don't get.
Good programmers either know everything (ha) or know how to learn/find the answer quickly. It's a great skill to start honing now.
You're skipping a vital step. Searching for the answer on the web. Most of the time the question you want to ask has already been answered.
Welcome to graduate school! (And, for that matter, real life.)
As in grad school, the secret is: If you can't figure it out, ask around. Form teams that stay up until 3am waving their hands and sketching on chalkboards. If nothing else, it's a bonding experience that you'll treasure for life.