Timeline for Is this question constructive?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
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| Jun 19, 2012 at 19:46 | comment | added | jmort253 | +1 on your explanation. "soliciting" is the key word here. The same can be applied to questions that ask for opinions. On some subjective questions, people give their "expert opinions" and that's fine, but the question should never ask "What do you think?" or "What is best?" The question instead should always focus on setting very clear, solid parameters. This keeps the answerers rallied around the focus of the question and avoids encouraging "soap-boxing". +1 +1 +1 | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 19:32 | comment | added | animuson StaffMod | @MatthewFlaschen: Yet in one form you're soliciting different opinions and the other form you're not. Also, "multiple" was a bad word choice on my part because multiple answers doesn't necessarily mean a bad question. In a high majority of cases, when the OP uses the word "best" they are looking for opinions and ideas, which is why it's been primarily "flagged" as a subjective word. | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 19:30 | comment | added | Matthew Flaschen | @animuson, but usually there are multiple to infinite ways to do it, even if you don't use the word best. If I ask how to do x (say, convert a string to an integer), I'm really asking for the best way to do it, not for a terrible way that uses regex (or one of the other bad ways). | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 19:25 | comment | added | animuson StaffMod | @RobKennedy: "best" is a subjective term as any person could have different opinions on what the "best way" is. By using the word, you're implying that there are multiple to infinite number of ways to do it. Even with the edit, this question is still extremely close to the non-constructive line. | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 19:23 | comment | added | Rob Kennedy | Why isn't it constructive to ask for the best way to do something? Isn't it implicit in just about every question? The question "How do I do X?" is generally requesting the best way, isn't it? A good answer to such a question will show a way to do X, and then talk about when it's is a good choice, and when alternatives might be more appropriate. Users then vote on which answers are better. | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 18:59 | comment | added | Bart | Though still a bit research-y and discussion-y, at least with the removal of the big red "best way"-flag it's better. I think new visitors will be less trigger happy with the current formulation. | |
| Jun 19, 2012 at 18:54 | comment | added | Matthew Flaschen |
I thought the mention of htonl indicated it wasn't a blue-sky (too broad, subjective) question. I've tried to rephrase it somewhat; not sure if it's an improvement.
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| Jun 19, 2012 at 18:50 | history | answered | animusonStaffMod | CC BY-SA 3.0 |