How To Ask Technical Questions and Answers

My talk for UCSY IT Camp 2014 - How to Ask Technical Questions and Answers

Transcript

1. Hello.
   Zwenexsys
   

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2. Writing & Answering
   Technical Questions
   Zwenexsys
   

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3. About me
   Zwenexsys
   

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4. Programmer at Zwenexsys
   http://zwenex.com
   Zwenexsys
   

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5. Active User on Stackoverflow & SuperUser
   Zwenexsys
   http://stackexchange.com/users/75304/ye-lin-aung
   

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6. Active User on Stackoverflow & SuperUser
   Zwenexsys
   Inspired by Jon Skeet’s (Perfect) Posts
   - Writing Perfect Question ( http://tinyurl.com/so-hints )
   - Answering technical question helpfully ( http://goo.gl/
   smRkaU )
   

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7. Zwenexsys
   Let’s solve the problem
   

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8. Zwenexsys
   What have you tried ?
   whathaveyoutried.com
   

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9. Zwenexsys
   • Search in Google
   • Read the manual / README
   • Read the FAQ
   • Find the answer by inspection or
   experimentation
   • Reading the source code
   • Asking around
   How to solve
   

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10. How to Ask
    Zwenexsys
    

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11. Zwenexsys
    The Golden Rule: Imagine You're Trying
    To Answer The Question
    `
    

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12. Zwenexsys
    • Write it
    • Read it through
    • Does it make sense ?
    • Is it easy to read and understand ?
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13. Zwenexsys
    Question Title
    `
    • Don’t put with the following -
    • Why doesn’t this work ?
    • Please help me.
    

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14. Zwenexsys
    Context
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    • Provide enough information
    • language version
    • platform version
    • operating system
    • any other relevant software
    • Describe what you have tried
    

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15. Zwenexsys
    Sample Code and Data
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    • Be standalone
    • Be complete
    • Demonstrate the problem
    • Be as short as possible.
    

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16. Zwenexsys
    Spelling, Grammar & Formatting
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    • Split into appropriate paragraphs
    • Please write actual words ( gr8, bcoz, u )
    • Just follow your browser spell check.
    

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17. Zwenexsys
    `
    How to Answer
    

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18. Zwenexsys
    Read the Questions
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    • Read the question
    • Read the question
    • Read the question
    

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19. Zwenexsys
    Get right to the point
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20. Zwenexsys
    Sample Code
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    • Show your “working” code.
    • Put appropriate explanation.
    

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21. Zwenexsys
    Answer the question and
    highlight side-issues
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    • Don’t do this because ….
    

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22. Zwenexsys
    Others tips!
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    • Provide links to related sources
    • Care about your reader
    • Don’t “answer and run”
    

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23. Zwenexsys
    • stackoverflow.com - for Programming related
    • http://stackexchange.com/sites - Q & A
    • quora.com - “Ask any question, get real
    answers from people with first hand
    experience, and blog about what you know.”
    • Email the people you think they will know
    Resources
    

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24. Zwenexsys
    • More at http://meta.stackoverflow.com/
    questions/8401/where-can-i-ask-questions-
    that-dont-fit-or-are-off-topic-for-stack-overflow
    Resources
    

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25. Zwenexsys
    `
    Have fun!
    

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26. Zwenexsys
    `
    Q & A
    

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27. Zwenexsys
    `
    Thank you <3
    

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