4 ms·

> because it was too broad for him Too broad has been the bane of my questions on StackOverflow. [0] As cpburns2009 says in a sibling comment: > When you're

> because it was too broad for him Too broad has been the bane of my questions on StackOverflow. [0] As cpburns2009 says in a sibling comment: > When you're working with an unfamiliar technology, you frequently don't even know what to ask. And if they don't, then provide some other place for questions which are exploring a field, or are more complicated than "How do I do X?" 0. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37610341/assigning-people-to-beds-approaches-to-automate https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37610341/assigning-peopl... Note the tone of the comments...

bmn__ 9y ago
Two years too late, but here it goes. That's not an question suitable for SO, the closing votes were correct. A suitable question would be if you already had started programming, and encountered a specific problem, and asked how to solve it. There's probably a different stackexchange or forum for broad questions, but SO is out of scope. > provide some other place for questions It's up to you to find these places, the company behind SO and the site users have no obligation to provide you with the other place.
- pbowyer 9y ago
  I disagree based on Stack Overflow's own description of itself: "Stack Overflow is for professional and enthusiast programmers, people who write code because they love it. We feel the best Stack Overflow questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers… a specific programming problem, or a software algorithm, or software tools commonly used by programmers; and is a practical, answerable problem that is unique to software development … then you’re in the right place to ask your question!" My question hits 1, involves 2 and part of 4 (practical and is unique to software development). > A suitable question would be if you already had started programming, and encountered a specific problem, and asked how to solve it. When you're exploring a new problem domain outside your experience (if you're a great programmer think of something outside, like improving at a new sport), and you can't determine the terms enough to find the literature - do you just 'start programming'? Or talk to people, discuss and shape your thinking based on their experience? If you're lucky to live somewhere where you have these discussions face to face that's fantastic. Most of us don't, and those we work with who are programmers don't have the experience either. > It's up to you to find these places, the company behind SO and the site users have no obligation to provide you with the other place. I see. Thanks for the insight.

bmn__ 9y ago

Two years too late, but here it goes. That's not an question suitable for SO, the closing votes were correct. A suitable question would be if you already had started programming, and encountered a specific problem, and asked how to solve it. There's probably a different stackexchange or forum for broad questions, but SO is out of scope. > provide some other place for questions It's up to you to find these places, the company behind SO and the site users have no obligation to provide you with the other place.

pbowyer 9y ago
I disagree based on Stack Overflow's own description of itself: "Stack Overflow is for professional and enthusiast programmers, people who write code because they love it. We feel the best Stack Overflow questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers… a specific programming problem, or a software algorithm, or software tools commonly used by programmers; and is a practical, answerable problem that is unique to software development … then you’re in the right place to ask your question!" My question hits 1, involves 2 and part of 4 (practical and is unique to software development). > A suitable question would be if you already had started programming, and encountered a specific problem, and asked how to solve it. When you're exploring a new problem domain outside your experience (if you're a great programmer think of something outside, like improving at a new sport), and you can't determine the terms enough to find the literature - do you just 'start programming'? Or talk to people, discuss and shape your thinking based on their experience? If you're lucky to live somewhere where you have these discussions face to face that's fantastic. Most of us don't, and those we work with who are programmers don't have the experience either. > It's up to you to find these places, the company behind SO and the site users have no obligation to provide you with the other place. I see. Thanks for the insight.