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rolls eyes Is there some reason programmers feel this need to bring up workarounds when I'm looking for an actual solution? If I could count how many answers o

rolls eyes Is there some reason programmers feel this need to bring up workarounds when I'm looking for an actual solution? If I could count how many answers on StackOverflow are just "well if you use JQuery..." or "Well if you use Boost...". Address the point the person you're responding to is making, and answer only the questions they are asking. Making assumptions just wastes people's time. I understand you're just trying to help, but it comes across as really condescending. "You should be doing this you pleb!" is how I always read these types of responses in my head, and it's really frustrating because often-times I'm already aware of whatever workaround you've mentioned, have already tried it, and know it's not suitable. It's doubly frustrating when you're specifically looking for the solution that's not the workaround.

IanCal 9y ago
There's no need to be like that. > Is there some reason programmers feel this need to bring up workarounds when I'm looking for an actual solution? It is a solution! It's not the same solution you want, but it's an actual solution to the problem you described. > Address the point the person you're responding to is making, and answer only the questions they are asking. They are addressing the point, and " answer only the questions they are asking." is a dreadful idea to me. So often people are asking how to solve a problem in a specific way, but there's no good reason to be limiting themselves in that way. Given that they currently can't easily solve their problem in that specific way, it suggests that if there is a nice solution they are likely looking in the wrong place. > Making assumptions just wastes people's time. I feel like not sharing a solution because you think that the person you're trying to help has some unexpected extra > is how I always read these types of responses in my head, and it's really frustrating because often-times I'm already aware of whatever workaround you've mentioned, have already tried it, and know it's not suitable. It's doubly frustrating when you're specifically looking for the solution that's not the workaround. Then you should make it more explicit what you've already tried. We're not inside your head, and many people haven't tried these things before. This is a good guide: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html I didn't realise lambda@edge was a thing, or that I could use it to solve these problems. If I'd asked the question, these would have helped me. Why should someone refrain from writing a concise and polite response helping me purely because they think I may have tried that before and it will annoy me? > "You should be doing this you pleb!" is how I always read these types of responses in my head, Then you may benefit from trying to work on this. Their reply has none of this snark or rudeness at all, and is simply listing some ways of solving the problem. You are the one that added this mentally, and then it annoys you. You are adding something yourself which then annoys you. Go back and read what they said. They very simply explained that AWS let you do those things using lambda@edge. There was absolutely no reason to reply so rudely.
- mseebach 9y ago
  So, I totally agree with you on the tone of the GP, and that workarounds are worthwhile to share, but I feel like they have a point. I feel the problem is more pronounced in the Javascript/webdev community (caveat: I'm recently dabbling in web front end development after a good number of years in Java-land) - the willingness to throw a poorly understood workaround or npm-incantation out there ("it usually works if I.."), rather than trying to actually get at the root of the problem is frustrating. I don't just want to make it work, I want to understand why it didn't before. It seems, from still shallow observation, that the community (such as a singular community exists) has an ethos of doing whatever to make it work and moving on. Sometimes the root of the issue is a fundamental limitation that you need to work around, and workarounds are definitely useful in those cases, but they are definitely frustrating when they aren't accompanied by reasonably precise diagnosis of the problem they are working around.

IanCal 9y ago

There's no need to be like that. > Is there some reason programmers feel this need to bring up workarounds when I'm looking for an actual solution? It is a solution! It's not the same solution you want, but it's an actual solution to the problem you described. > Address the point the person you're responding to is making, and answer only the questions they are asking. They are addressing the point, and " answer only the questions they are asking." is a dreadful idea to me. So often people are asking how to solve a problem in a specific way, but there's no good reason to be limiting themselves in that way. Given that they currently can't easily solve their problem in that specific way, it suggests that if there is a nice solution they are likely looking in the wrong place. > Making assumptions just wastes people's time. I feel like not sharing a solution because you think that the person you're trying to help has some unexpected extra > is how I always read these types of responses in my head, and it's really frustrating because often-times I'm already aware of whatever workaround you've mentioned, have already tried it, and know it's not suitable. It's doubly frustrating when you're specifically looking for the solution that's not the workaround. Then you should make it more explicit what you've already tried. We're not inside your head, and many people haven't tried these things before. This is a good guide: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html I didn't realise lambda@edge was a thing, or that I could use it to solve these problems. If I'd asked the question, these would have helped me. Why should someone refrain from writing a concise and polite response helping me purely because they think I may have tried that before and it will annoy me? > "You should be doing this you pleb!" is how I always read these types of responses in my head, Then you may benefit from trying to work on this. Their reply has none of this snark or rudeness at all, and is simply listing some ways of solving the problem. You are the one that added this mentally, and then it annoys you. You are adding something yourself which then annoys you. Go back and read what they said. They very simply explained that AWS let you do those things using lambda@edge. There was absolutely no reason to reply so rudely.

mseebach 9y ago
So, I totally agree with you on the tone of the GP, and that workarounds are worthwhile to share, but I feel like they have a point. I feel the problem is more pronounced in the Javascript/webdev community (caveat: I'm recently dabbling in web front end development after a good number of years in Java-land) - the willingness to throw a poorly understood workaround or npm-incantation out there ("it usually works if I.."), rather than trying to actually get at the root of the problem is frustrating. I don't just want to make it work, I want to understand why it didn't before. It seems, from still shallow observation, that the community (such as a singular community exists) has an ethos of doing whatever to make it work and moving on. Sometimes the root of the issue is a fundamental limitation that you need to work around, and workarounds are definitely useful in those cases, but they are definitely frustrating when they aren't accompanied by reasonably precise diagnosis of the problem they are working around.