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I've tried.

Before this question, some of my question were closed as "not constructive".

I've asked about this on Meta. This time, it wasn't considered "not constructive", but too localized.

I think this is like when I edit other people's posts to try and help: I've once experienced something like this:

enter image description here

The similarity I would think that is, what people are thinking are polarized.

When I cannot describe my question clearly, it is considered not constructive. Then I try to make my question clear, try all I can to let viewers get the point, and describe what I've tried with no success. And it is considered too localized.

Why is it hard to ask a question?

I originally thought that with Stack Overflow, I could complete my code in shorter time, but it seems I'm just failing on asking. I have even joined in, with the fifth close vote on my question.

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I don't think that the suggested edits reviews are a great indication of polarization of the site. Frankly, there are some people who abuse those reviews by approving anything they see, or don't understand what's acceptable. Others actually take the time to review suggested edits and reject things they believe are inappropriate or against site conventions. For example, editing the "possible duplicate" banner out of a question, like was done here: stackoverflow.com/review/suggested-edits/1331897 is frowned upon by convention, yet two people approved that edit. –  Brad Larson Jan 29 '13 at 17:05
@Brad Larson♦: We don't see the reasons of approved reviews, but the reason of rejected. Thus we have no idea of why someone approved, but we see the reason looked polarized in the picture in the post. One think too minor, the other giving the reason of too much? Then, what should think it is? Too much? Or too minor? –  Ken Kin Jan 30 '13 at 6:13

2 Answers 2

up vote 14 down vote accepted

It's not hard to ask a question. It's difficult to ask a good question, though.

Bear in mind the sorts of questions that are of interest to Stack Overflow:

  • Questions that pertain to a specific programming problem
  • Questions that pertain to a software algorithm
  • Questions that pertain to software tools commonly used by programmers
  • Practical, answerable problems that are unique to the programming profession

Now I don't disagree that the community is a bit polarized, and may be even more so in the C# tag, since there's such a wealth of knowledge there already. However, keep the following points in mind when asking a question:

  • Did I do sufficient research to narrow down my particular issue?
  • Do I have proof of what I've attempted in a SSCCE?
  • Is it a clear, well-thought question that communicates the exact problem?
  • Am I looking to understand what went wrong, or do I want a quick fix?

Typically point #4 is the most contentious, since "quick" questions get tons of views, answers, and upvotes on the answers. For the most part, though, points 1 through 3 are what I'd look for in a question - no matter how big or small.

To your second part, please don't use your close votes willy-nilly. Only use a close vote if you genuinely feel that the question should be closed to give it the time it needs to get to an answerable state.

Lastly, if you do disagree with a question being closed, you could post it here and see if people here [a|disa]gree with your question.

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I'd argue that it depends on the question and the subject. Many, many questions have been answered about every programming language, so asking a question about something relatively novel or intriguing leads the community down a more interesting and beneficial Q&A session. Questions that are trivially solved with a compiler/IDE are quicker to be shunned. –  Makoto Jan 29 '13 at 5:19
I cleared the question body. I'll not get helped anymore. It is closed anyway. I cannot define the causality with the three sentence prior, so it's no matter what the order they are put. –  Ken Kin Jan 29 '13 at 14:14

For me, the most difficult thing is to ask a question that hasn't been asked yet. In the several years of my experience as a professional programmer I have never found myself asking a question that hasn't been asked somewhere in the Web or explained in some kind of tutorial.

If there is a straight answer to a question, it can probably be found through google already. IMO The really good questions have no straight answer - they make us think for a while, consider the answers and... gain some knowledge. This question is a great example.

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Thank you very much. I don't think I can always find a question that good enough to ask. I ask because I faced to and I don't solve them directly. I'm not good at analogy. –  Ken Kin Jan 29 '13 at 13:54

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