This happens quite a lot for me lately. I encounter a problem in my code, I want to ask it here and while I type the question, I have an idea which proves useful. I think that this question might interest other people, but it feels kind of duchy to ask a question just to answer it. Should I?
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3Ask and answer it only if it will be useful to someone in the future. It cannot be too localized. That is why they have a feature to answer your own question.. blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/07/… – Josh Crozier Sep 28 '13 at 19:46
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2You should post that as an answer @JoshC. – yannis Sep 28 '13 at 19:48
ASK IT
But before asking make sure you have searched and the question is not a duplicate.
The reason for asking and answering questions is not just because of your self but also because of other users that will visit the site in future
EDIT : Take a look at How to ask
It says
Make it relevant to others
We like to help as many people at a time as we can. Make it clear how your question is relevant to more people than just you, and more of us will be interested in your question and willing to look into it.
The site has a "self learner" badge for anyone who answers their own question and receives three upvotes. (Unlike some others, this badge will not be awarded more than once per site.)
Basically, the site rewards you for asking, then answering, a question that bothered you, if enough (three) others deem that the question-answer sequence was useful.
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4Only thing I'd add to this is make sure the question is asked including all of the relevant details to describe the problem. I see the self-answer feature fail a lot when users don't put effort into the question and just use it as a placeholder to then allow them to post a tutorial in the answer. In short, the question and the answer should both stand on their own, and it shouldn't be obvious from reading either that the asker and answerer is the same person. In short, self answerers must role play. – jmort253 Sep 28 '13 at 20:31