Some say that there is no dumb question? False, there are stupid questions. Stupid questions lower the chances of you receiving useful information to help solve your problem. A dumb question has bad structure, ambiguous answer options, or lack the information needed to help the person answering the question come to a helpful answer. Another impactful factor is that there was a lack of research before even asking the question. Not looking into the problem and trying to find the answer before asking the question is a contributor to stupid questions.
Going through stackoverflow I found a question that meets the criteria of a stupid question as mentioned from “How To Ask Questions The Smart Way”. The user puts out a bad question asking how to loop through all the entries in an array using JavaScript while also giving an example of his incorrect code. Although this is a bad question the user still gets an answer, it is a simple question to answer. First off, the glaring key point that shows this is a bad question is that the user does not research prior to asking the question. A simple google search would have given you the answer with multiple sources to choose from. Another thing is that the user just says I thought, or I guess it was this with no other context and or effort and just wants the answer.
Here is a link to the Bad Question
We’ve seen what a stupid question looks like but how about a smart one. Doing your own research or trying to find the answer given the resources that you have before you ask a question helps to set you up for a smart question. When asking the question it is good to show that you have tried to search and find the answer on your own, make it grammar free, easy to comprehend, concise and to the point of what you are trying to ask, being explicit about your question, and good etiquette or common decency to name a few.
On stackoverflow I found a question that shows what a good question should look like. The question the user asks is “I always thought java uses pass-by-reference. However, I’ve seen a blogpost that claims that Java uses pass-by-value. I don’t think I understand the distinction they’re making. What is the explanation?”. They show that they have done some research into the question themselves. They go over the findings of said research. Also, they ask a clear question that pertains to the information they are looking for concise and politely. The answer the user gets is a good answer. First of they give a clear answer into what is being asked by stating that Java is pass-by-value. They also go into detail explaining more about their answer and try to make it understandable to the user.
Here is a link to the Good Question
In the career field of software engineering, we are constantly solving problems. We also have to deal with computer issues both hardware and software because technology is ever evolving and as programmers we need to keep up. We may be smart, but I doubt we are going to tackle every issue we run into with ease. That is why knowing how to ask questions that will not only encourage people to give useful answers but also make them want to help us is essential. I now have a better understanding of what a bad question looks like and what a smart question looks like. Just reading about what a smart question is was great and insightful. Going through the experience and seeing a lot of question and trying to dissect to understand if they were a smart question or not helped to fortify my understanding of a smart question. I can say without a doubt that I have become a better software engineer.