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User vartec instructed me in the comment section to post here my question on the migration of my question from SO to Programmer.

This is the text he.she asked me to remove:

I am absolutely fine (even happy indeed!) with my question being migrated (I myself thought this was a more appropriate forum), yet I am curious to know what was the logic in migrating it as information collected from SO and Programmer's FAQ seemed to indicate differently (see my note at the bottom of the question on why I posted on SO).

The original note - now removed - was this one:

A note on why this question is posted here. First and foremost: I have great consideration for SO members. I truly wanted their opinion and not the one of some other programming forum.

That said, I am perfectly aware this is a subjective question and doesn't relate to code or programming directly. I initially thought the right forum would have been programmers, but their FAQ seem to indicate otherwise. On the contrary SO FAQ say:

We feel the best Stack Overflow questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers [...] matters that are unique to the programming profession [...] then you’re in the right place to ask your question!

This SO blog post was also somehow a reference point I used before posting.

So here I am. I am not complaining, I'm just happy with that, but I would like to understand better why it was decided to migrate it.

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2 Answers 2

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To put it as simple as possible.

If it's a question about:

  • programming — belongs on StackOverflow;
  • programmers — belongs on Programmers.SE;

This definition is of course simplified and covers only clear cut cases.

For further reference see: Why was the Programmers site on Stack Exchange created? and Can something highlighting the difference between Programmers and SO be added to the FAQ?

For this particular case:

Question about "ethos of programming profession" is about programmers. Even though it has word "programming" in the title.

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  • Excellent; this is probably the clearest description of the difference I've seen yet. Thanks.
    – sarnold
    Jun 29, 2011 at 22:46
  • This definition isn't entirely right. There are programming questions that fit on Programmers.SE as well. See further discussion here on Programmers Meta.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Jun 30, 2011 at 15:19
  • @Anna: I'm aware of that. I think it does cover most of clear cut cases though.
    – vartec
    Jun 30, 2011 at 15:24
  • Just leaving a signpost here for people who aren't aware of it. :)
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Jun 30, 2011 at 15:26
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Compare:

We feel the best...questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers...

  • a specific programming problem
  • a software algorithm
  • software tools commonly used by programmers
  • matters that are unique to the programming profession

You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.

With:

...expert programmers who are interested in conceptual questions on software development.

This can include topics such as:

  • Software engineering
  • Developer testing
  • Algorithm and data structure concepts
  • Design patterns
  • Architecture
  • Development methodologies
  • Quality assurance
  • Software law
  • Freelancing and business concerns

Your question fits comfortably into the latter, hence the migration.

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  • Compare "expert programmers who ... freelancing concerns" with "We feel the best Stack Overflow questions have a bit of source code in them, but if your question generally covers [...] matters that are unique to the programming profession [...] then you’re in the right place to ask your question!". My question fit comfortably in the latter too.
    – user138932
    Jun 29, 2011 at 13:20
  • 3
    I would disagree as to the meaning of "matters that are unique to the programming profession." Here is a great example of a question which is unique to the programming profession, but otherwise not a usual SO question.
    – user7116
    Jun 29, 2011 at 13:23
  • 1
    That question was posted on SO during a different era, when SO was still young and malleable and not so sure about its ways. These days, SO is for programming questions, and programmers.se is about questions related to programming, but not directly about programming. Yours fell into the latter, and was thus migrated.
    – Lasse V. Karlsen
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:03
  • @Lasse - Thanks, that's rather clear.
    – user138932
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:05

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