How to ask questions and find the right answers

An introduction to finding help online when beginning programming. Given at RailsGirls Oulu.

Transcript

1. H W TO ASK QUESTIONS
   AND FIND THE RIGHT ANSWERS
   

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2. You will f*ck up.
   

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3. You will f*ck up.
   Every day.
   

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4. And that’s okay.
   

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5. And that’s okay.
   It’s the best part, really.
   

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6. “Your pain is the breaking of the shell
   that encloses your understanding.”
   Khalil Gibran
   

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7. (A story of a button.)
   

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8. Getting ahead in 5 easy steps
   

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9. Admit that you have a problem.
   1
   

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10. Walk away.
    2
    

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11. Narrow it down.
    3
    

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12. A Is something broken?
    B Are you stuck?
    

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13. - What does it take to trigger the problem?
    - What is it that you want to achieve?
    - What happens instead?
    A
    

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14. - What is it that you want to achieve?
    - What is involved?
    - Where are you getting stuck?
    B
    

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15. Research.
    4
    

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16. A
    “Do you have a name”?
    Check the documentation.
    

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19. A + B
    Too fuzzy? — Use a search engine.
    Don’t bother with site searches.
    

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21. ?
    

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22. What does it take to trigger the problem?
    What is it that you want to achieve?
    What happens instead?
    A
    WHEN
    THEN
    BUT
    

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23. What is it that you want to achieve?
    What is involved?
    Where are you getting stuck?
    B
    WHAT
    WITH
    HOW
    

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24. - Leave your emotions at the door.
    - Formulate your question with the answer
    in mind.
    - Be speci c in your terms.
    - Consider variations of your problem.
    - e order of the search terms matters.
    - Let the results guide your next question.
    

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25. A + B
    Evaluate the results.
    

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26. - How old is an answer? Check the date.
    - How trustworthy is the source?
    - Explanation or just a code snippet?
    - Close, but no cigar? —Can you adapt an
    answer to your use case?
    

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27. Ask for help.
    5
    

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29. (What is Stackover ow and how does it work?)
    

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30. So, you think you’re ready
    to ask a question?
    

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31. Have you exhausted all other means?
    

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32. Did you search for similar questions?
    

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33. Really?
    

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34. Really?
    Alright then —
    

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37. - Leave your emotions at the door.
    - Be speci c, be brief.
    

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41. - Leave your emotions at the door!
    - Provide all necessary context.
    - Show that and what you’ve tried.
    - Be speci c, be brief.
    - Make it relevant to others.
    - Keep an open mind.
    - Be nice.
    

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43. - Use as little tags a as possible.
    - Don’t use buzzwords.
    - is is not a honey pot!
    

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46. Now wait. Go, do something else.
    Be patient.
    

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47. …
    

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48. Found what you needed?
    

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49. Found what you needed?
    Take some time to understand.
    

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50. Comment. Ask follow–up questions.
    Be grateful.
    

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51. …
    

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52. Repeat.
    ∞
    

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53. Experts
    Beginners
    

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54. Experts
    Beginners
    Highly specialized questions
    Universal questions
    

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55. Someone somewhere had the same
    problem than you before.
    

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56. Give up.
    

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57. Give up for the moment
    

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58. Give up for the moment,
    but never for good.
    

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59. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
    

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60. Writing Ruby is a magical experience,
    but Ruby is not magic.
    

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61. Here’s something to get you started:
    

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64. @polarblau
    

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