4 ms·

Most comments here are about how annoying people asking about X are. We get it, sometimes you are asking about X simply because you need to know about X and yo

Most comments here are about how annoying people asking about X are. We get it, sometimes you are asking about X simply because you need to know about X and you know what you are doing. But often, especially when dealing with more junior engineers, I've found this simple to keep in mind and helpful. It's also a good proof of experience to know when to ask about X and try to make sure you understand the context of the question before answering it.

kwoff 7y ago
It can be telling how people react to being asked about X. I tend to ignore conversations if someone gets annoyed about getting asked what they're really trying to do. Though you do have to consider whether they just don't understand enough about what they want to do, to know what question to ask. A special case of Y questions are the overly abstract or general ones. "How do I [solve this kind of problem]?" It's understandable that people try to build up a repertoire of problem solving techniques, but this can be very annoying if the specific X question is simple to answer, whereas the general question is difficult. Sorry to say, but I tend to also ignore questions (I'm thinking of chat rooms) that seem overly general any more, unless I'm in a mentoring mood.
will4274 7y ago
Agreed. And sometimes X is not permitted or unlikely to be permitted. In my day job, I work at BigCorp and I get questions like "how do I Y without Z?" Often, the answer is "you shouldn't Y without Z. In order to have a consistent UX, all BigCorp applications have a policy that Y is done by Z... What is your X?" And then we can talk about if X really is exceptional. There is a world of difference between a forum like stack overflow where individuals have diverse needs and a forum inside a perscriptive company where uniformity is an engineering or usability booster.

kwoff 7y ago

It can be telling how people react to being asked about X. I tend to ignore conversations if someone gets annoyed about getting asked what they're really trying to do. Though you do have to consider whether they just don't understand enough about what they want to do, to know what question to ask. A special case of Y questions are the overly abstract or general ones. "How do I [solve this kind of problem]?" It's understandable that people try to build up a repertoire of problem solving techniques, but this can be very annoying if the specific X question is simple to answer, whereas the general question is difficult. Sorry to say, but I tend to also ignore questions (I'm thinking of chat rooms) that seem overly general any more, unless I'm in a mentoring mood.

will4274 7y ago

Agreed. And sometimes X is not permitted or unlikely to be permitted. In my day job, I work at BigCorp and I get questions like "how do I Y without Z?" Often, the answer is "you shouldn't Y without Z. In order to have a consistent UX, all BigCorp applications have a policy that Y is done by Z... What is your X?" And then we can talk about if X really is exceptional. There is a world of difference between a forum like stack overflow where individuals have diverse needs and a forum inside a perscriptive company where uniformity is an engineering or usability booster.