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Whenever I ask a question on Stack Overflow, or any Stack Exchange site, such as

How can I change x to do y

it seems that the community is most interested in pointing out my question is stupid, either by not answering my question at all

You shouldn't even have x in the first place

Your capitalization is very wrong

or by thinking that if the answer is obvious to them, it should be obvious to me.

me, in a comment on an answer: "I'm sorry, I don't overly understand what you mean. Can you provide an example?"

counter comment: "@Matthew: What do you think happens to your SqlParameter?"

Is there a way I can avoid this? How can I know if my question will be considered annoying?

Should I prepost every question on meta and ask if it's appropriate?

I want to get the most out of Stack Exchange sites, and feel that I need to improve the way I ask my questions. Basically, how do I phrase them to make the community more receptive to them? Any tips?

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  • 2
    Maybe you are wording your questions incorrectly. Try having a read through this tinyurl.com/so-hints
    – codingbadger
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:04
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    For context: The question in question.... Hmm, I'm not an expert in the subject matter and SLaks is admittedly being a bit harsh, but I think you may be taking the tone too seriously. After all, it's constructive input. Also note that the remark about capitalization - as far as I can tell, a hint on improving coding style - was made by the same user who gave you the actual answer to the question.
    – Pekka
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:11
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    We've all been there, don't take it personally.
    – Tim Post
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:13
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    SLaks is SLaks, but a Diamond-Moderator should really not express himself that way. This goes totally against the "be nice" entry in the SO FAQ (edit: I realize now that this was posted when he wasn't a moderator yet, but still ...)
    – user138231
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:13
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    +1, I'm with you. Sometimes you just want to know how something works to know how it works, not because you want to make a dangerous kludge or stupid micro-optimization or whatever else the answerers are assuming.
    – Pops
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:16
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    @MatthewU - if you find a comment offensive you can flag it.
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:16
  • @BalusC - I didn't interpret it as rude, merely laconic.
    – Tim Post
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:16
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    @BalusC yeah, true, the tone in that one is not nice. But looking at the OP's question history, this seems like a relatively isolated incident to me. Not enough to make a generalization... Although I can symphatize with the point @Popular makes
    – Pekka
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:16
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    People being a little hard on new users or new developers has been a concern for a while (see Could we please be a bit nicer to the noobs?), but I don't think that's the case here. I don't think SLaks is being harsh, he's just trying to help.
    – Brad Larson
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:22
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    I've had my fair share of negative commentary with SLaks too ;) [but he seems to have toned down a tad lately, so lets hope it stays that way :D ]
    – jcolebrand
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:23
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    @BalusC: You are aware that SLaks wasn't a diamond moderator when he posted that answer?
    – Powerlord
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:28
  • @R.Bemrose: Yes. Are you also aware of the edit in my comment which I made within the minute?
    – user138231
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:33
  • @BalusC: No, because you hadn't yet edited it when I loaded this page before replying.
    – Powerlord
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:35
  • @R.Bemrose: That's indeed possible.
    – user138231
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:37

2 Answers 2

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Yes, been there. Sometimes the responses can be harsh. This question (disclaimer: that I asked) and the many useful answers will I think help a lot:

e.g.

  • Don't take personal criticism to heart.
  • Do the homework before posting a question.
  • Post the context of your question.

to name just a few.

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Now that I've had a moment to read the linked question above

He was offering two specific pieces of advice/commentary:

There's an accepted naming scheme on MS projects, that we all pretty well use to keep things readable cross-domain (so if we share code, we both read it the same) and he as advising you (in a succinct manner) to change how you were casing your program code.

He was asking what do you think happens to the SqlParameter and you ignored his question. (or deleted something, idk)

So: Context helps. Responses help. Asking "what do you mean by that comment, I'm confused" helps.

HTH

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