It doesn't bother me. I suspect many people go to SO in order to solve a problem. Sometimes it's nice to find gigantic answers explaining the theory behind the

It doesn't bother me. I suspect many people go to SO in order to solve a problem. Sometimes it's nice to find gigantic answers explaining the theory behind the question itself and giving the answer & examples in the end. It's nice, I search for random coding stuff in my free time and finding such answers entertains me greatly. Most times, though, it's annoying when you ask a question and the answer/comment simply says "Why are you trying to do X? Please let me understand the problem; maybe you want something else!". I'm one of these people who ask edge case questions concerning obscure pratices/libs/language features, and let me tell you, I hate when someone tries to patronize me about his favorite design pattern on SO. I don't think he's trying to bribe anyone. Sometimes you're just desperate with no knowledge on X, and a search for X yields just scientific articles on the subject. Sometimes you just want to get stuff done.