Ask the Right Question, Get the Right Answer
September 10, 2014
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - Voltaire
Since I began attending DBC, I have had daily questions regarding my code. My first resort is Google or one of the many resources I have accumulated. I always try to determine whether the question has already been answered before verbalizing it, either aloud to a peer or on an online resource like Stack Overflow. Big surprise - my questions rarely go unanswered following online research. That said, I have come across a lot of unnecessarily-asked or poorly worded questions while researching my own questions. I have to fight the constant urge to use Let Me Google That For You.
I think a good question to ask yourself before asking a question of someone else is 'What information would I need if I were going to answer my question?' Introduce the problem before asking a question. Give adequate detail, including the programming language, what you understand and what you don't, and any relevant code excerpts. Make sure to check your spelling and use correct terminology (which is a challenge for those new to coding, but a good practice to reaffirm comprehension).
In researching the question first, you may learn new things. And, even if you don't find the answer, you'll be better able to ask the question, outlining what you've already tried. Saying, "I'm confused about why my Ruby code isn't returning X, Y, and Z. I tried doing ______ with the method, but that didn't work" gives the answering party so much more to work with than, "I'm confused as to why my code isn't returning X, Y, and Z".
Other helpful tips include not asking 'yes' or 'no' questions, using follow-up questions if you are not getting the response you were looking for, and using the power of silence (get comfortable with asking a question, waiting for a response, listening to the response and then waiting some more). And, as with most things, practice makes perfect.