If you're in one of the big languages on SO (C#, SQL, Python, Ruby), it's terrific. If you're trying to get help with some other language, I've found it to be

If you're in one of the big languages on SO (C#, SQL, Python, Ruby), it's terrific. If you're trying to get help with some other language, I've found it to be far worse than mailing lists, IRC, or even USENET. In less-popular languages, the only questions are of the form "How/Should I learn $(lang)?". There's no Jon Skeet of Haskell there.