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What I've found over the years is as I get more experienced, I can cobble together whatever I want from existing SO answers plus the rest of the internet. My vo

What I've found over the years is as I get more experienced, I can cobble together whatever I want from existing SO answers plus the rest of the internet. My volume of asks has declined enormously over the years. He might simply already have been at that end of the experience curve when he joined.

umvi 6y ago
Same for me. I only ask questions now if there is no documentation for something or it is a bleeding edge technology. I haven't asked a python or C++ question in probably 5 years because the existing answers are all excellent and I can glean what I need from one or more of them. SO really shines once you've cleared the minimum bar in terms of computing knowledge. From what I hear it's not super great for people that haven't cleared the minimum bar yet (students, absolute beginners, etc.), but it's truly a gem of the internet (I didn't use it as a student because I didn't learn about its existence until I already graduated college - plus, it launched when I was a sophomore in college so it really hadn't built up a good answer base until later).
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
  SO can also really shine given how it illuminates how you can rarely go deep enough. Even after 35 years as a highly technical programmer, I still regularly read stuff on SO and have an "oh really?" reaction over and over again.
MrPowers 6y ago
I've found that SO is great for questions that aren't too basic, but aren't too hard either. Overly basic questions get downvoted. Really hard questions don't get answered (not in the Spark niche at least). Questions that people with 2-4 years of experience ask seem to be the bread & butter of SO.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
hombre_fatal 6y ago
One of the most valuable lessons you learn with experience is how to be resourceful. If you look at what's being asked on SO, it's mostly beginners who didn't know how to divine a solution nor read source code.

umvi 6y ago

Same for me. I only ask questions now if there is no documentation for something or it is a bleeding edge technology. I haven't asked a python or C++ question in probably 5 years because the existing answers are all excellent and I can glean what I need from one or more of them. SO really shines once you've cleared the minimum bar in terms of computing knowledge. From what I hear it's not super great for people that haven't cleared the minimum bar yet (students, absolute beginners, etc.), but it's truly a gem of the internet (I didn't use it as a student because I didn't learn about its existence until I already graduated college - plus, it launched when I was a sophomore in college so it really hadn't built up a good answer base until later).

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
SO can also really shine given how it illuminates how you can rarely go deep enough. Even after 35 years as a highly technical programmer, I still regularly read stuff on SO and have an "oh really?" reaction over and over again.

MrPowers 6y ago

I've found that SO is great for questions that aren't too basic, but aren't too hard either. Overly basic questions get downvoted. Really hard questions don't get answered (not in the Spark niche at least). Questions that people with 2-4 years of experience ask seem to be the bread & butter of SO.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

hombre_fatal 6y ago

One of the most valuable lessons you learn with experience is how to be resourceful. If you look at what's being asked on SO, it's mostly beginners who didn't know how to divine a solution nor read source code.