4 ms·

I don't get it. Given your self-proclaimed skillset (below) you are trying to tell us you genuinely don't know how to increment a number in Lisp? Expertise

by rada 16y ago

I don't get it. Given your self-proclaimed skillset (below) you are trying to tell us you genuinely don't know how to increment a number in Lisp? Expertise: Computer, Video, and Mobile Games (PC/Mac/Consoles/iPhone/Android) Real-time physics simulation Game-logic and character AI 3DS Max scripts and plug-ins Unity game engine OpenGL/OpenGL ES/Cg Shaders C/C++/Objective-C/Java/Python/Lua/Common Lisp

JabavuAdams 16y ago
You're right, I knew the answer. I wanted to create a canonical answer that others could find, since I could not find one, and since I have evidence that some other programmers don't know this.
- slmbrhrt 16y ago
  So why not let them ask the question themselves? I understand that's part of the premise of StackOverflow.
  - JabavuAdams 16y ago
    Chicken-and-egg. As a senior dev. I often see junior devs who don't know what questions to ask. They do a quick google search, and if it doesn't come up in the first few hits, they're lost.
- chollida1 16y ago
  What is wrong with the terms google came up with. I got this as the first term by searching how to increment a number with Common Lisp. http://www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/310/pwfong/Lisp/4/tutorial4.html http://www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/310/pwfong/Lisp/4/tutorial4.html This seems like a likely search term for a "noob".
VMG 16y ago
It isn't a matter of whether he genuinely doesn't know it or not. Joel Spolsky knows how to move the turtle in LOGO, but it is a valid question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1003841/how-do-i-move-the-turtle-in-logo http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1003841/how-do-i-move-the... The goal of Stackoverflow is to become a wiki for programming questions. If you look in the faq, it clearly states: > It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, as long as you pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.
- rada 16y ago
  I get that you can "legally" ask your own questions, or edit other people's posts, etc but there has to be some common sense. I think it's disingenuous to post a question on how to increment a number (in Lisp, which is not something that total newbies fall into in the first place), have the question tagged as badge-bait, and then post a rather inflammatory headline "What's Wrong with Stack Overflow: Social Over Substance".
  - JabavuAdams 16y ago
    Well that was not my intent. Lisp, which happens to be one of the languages that total newbies don't fall into in the first place Wrong! They hear from their cool but slightly wacky friend that Lisp is the new old hot sh*t. Or, maybe they read Paul Graham, or Joel Spolsky. They go to try it ...
- xenoterracide 16y ago
  I've answered my own questions many times on SO site's... but I don't think that you should ask a question you know the answer to when you ask. I do not think SO is a wiki for programming question. I feel it's a place for people to go for help when they have a problem. Given I occasionally ask questions I could have looked up, so it helps other people, and occasionally I end up answering my own question (by looking it up), after I've given others a chance to provide an answer. It just feels like abusing the system by asking a question you know the answer to. That will stay unanswered for 2 days (since that's how long it takes before you can accept your own answer). At the very least he should have given other people a chance to answer, instead of rep whoring. (unix.stackexchange mod here)
  - JabavuAdams 16y ago
    See, this is why I chose the HN title. As soon as a site adds rep, there come the accusations of rep whoring. I don't care about my SO rep, as long as it's not libellous or something. I don't need a job, I don't want a job. I want (in this specific case) to teach. What if people don't know they have a problem? If SO becomes a standard destination (and it appears to be from watching the devs around me), then what is not on SO / accessible to Google might as well not exist. Re: the letting others answer. Let them edit my post instead, if they think there's a problem with it.

by rada 16y ago

JabavuAdams 16y ago

You're right, I knew the answer. I wanted to create a canonical answer that others could find, since I could not find one, and since I have evidence that some other programmers don't know this.

slmbrhrt 16y ago
So why not let them ask the question themselves? I understand that's part of the premise of StackOverflow.
- JabavuAdams 16y ago
  Chicken-and-egg. As a senior dev. I often see junior devs who don't know what questions to ask. They do a quick google search, and if it doesn't come up in the first few hits, they're lost.
chollida1 16y ago
What is wrong with the terms google came up with. I got this as the first term by searching how to increment a number with Common Lisp. http://www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/310/pwfong/Lisp/4/tutorial4.html http://www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/310/pwfong/Lisp/4/tutorial4.html This seems like a likely search term for a "noob".

VMG 16y ago

It isn't a matter of whether he genuinely doesn't know it or not. Joel Spolsky knows how to move the turtle in LOGO, but it is a valid question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1003841/how-do-i-move-the-turtle-in-logo http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1003841/how-do-i-move-the... The goal of Stackoverflow is to become a wiki for programming questions. If you look in the faq, it clearly states: > It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, as long as you pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.

rada 16y ago
I get that you can "legally" ask your own questions, or edit other people's posts, etc but there has to be some common sense. I think it's disingenuous to post a question on how to increment a number (in Lisp, which is not something that total newbies fall into in the first place), have the question tagged as badge-bait, and then post a rather inflammatory headline "What's Wrong with Stack Overflow: Social Over Substance".
- JabavuAdams 16y ago
  Well that was not my intent. Lisp, which happens to be one of the languages that total newbies don't fall into in the first place Wrong! They hear from their cool but slightly wacky friend that Lisp is the new old hot sh*t. Or, maybe they read Paul Graham, or Joel Spolsky. They go to try it ...
xenoterracide 16y ago
I've answered my own questions many times on SO site's... but I don't think that you should ask a question you know the answer to when you ask. I do not think SO is a wiki for programming question. I feel it's a place for people to go for help when they have a problem. Given I occasionally ask questions I could have looked up, so it helps other people, and occasionally I end up answering my own question (by looking it up), after I've given others a chance to provide an answer. It just feels like abusing the system by asking a question you know the answer to. That will stay unanswered for 2 days (since that's how long it takes before you can accept your own answer). At the very least he should have given other people a chance to answer, instead of rep whoring. (unix.stackexchange mod here)
- JabavuAdams 16y ago
  See, this is why I chose the HN title. As soon as a site adds rep, there come the accusations of rep whoring. I don't care about my SO rep, as long as it's not libellous or something. I don't need a job, I don't want a job. I want (in this specific case) to teach. What if people don't know they have a problem? If SO becomes a standard destination (and it appears to be from watching the devs around me), then what is not on SO / accessible to Google might as well not exist. Re: the letting others answer. Let them edit my post instead, if they think there's a problem with it.