StackOverflow: The Good, The Bad, The 'Are you even trying?'

29 Jan 2025

Asking questions is an essential part of learning.

It can be irritating to be stuck on the same issue for hours. However, asking questions may not always result in the best responses. While the usefulness of those answers is up to the learner to decide, some questions can result in better replies than others. Poorly structured questions can lead to unrelated answers, unnecessary confusion, criticism, or plain radio silence.

Much like a first impression, a subject header matters when forming a smart question. While browsing StackOverflow, I noticed that forums with more direct subject headers had more interactions than vague ones. However, this isn’t always true. Many posts beginning with “How do I…” often had hundreds or thousands of interactions, contrary to what I expected.

A poor question:

In the example below, the person who wrote the post does not ask a good question. The only question they ask, “Any thoughts?” doesn’t clarify anything. This person fails to provide any code, error codes, or any context. From this text, the author demonstrates a lack of care and effort made to solve their issue.

Without any details to form a solution, the few comments asked for more information. There were no helpful responses. A few hours after I accessed this post, the discussion was closed due to a lack of details from the user. While the author of the post did not face any snark remarks, it goes to show how you can’t be helped if you refuse to help yourself.

Facebook Scraper in Python

I am running a simple FB scraper program on Python. But I keep getting errors when logging in.
The otp code is throwing an error and I am not sure why. I have a feeling that I am not retrieving the otp code correctly. Any thoughts? Thank you!

A better question:

In the next example, the owner of the post has a clear subject header and lists the problem as well as their attempts at solving it. They also include their error outputs, further clarifying their issue. Unlike the first example, this forum had some productive comments that offered solutions.

SpecFlow C# Visual Studio - Navigation Disabled

SpecFlow for VS 2022 2022.1.91.26832

Problem
Cannot navigate to code behind feature file steps.

Tried
- delete the .vs file
- delete %temp% files
- delete autogenerated .cs files for .feature files.
- close VS
- re-open and rebuild

Info: OnSettingsInitialized: Project settings initialized: .NETCoreApp,Version=v8.0,SpecFlow:3.9.74
Warning: AndDiscoveryProviderSucceed: Error during binding discovery. 
Command executed:
  C:\git\engine-features-automation\BDTFeaturesAutomation\bin\Debug\net8.0> C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe exec c:\users\guyl\appdata\local\microsoft\visualstudio\17.0_7ad9ef81\extensions\ypciabcb.3gp\Connectors\Generic-net7.0\specflow-vs.dll discovery C:\git\engine-features-automation\BDTFeaturesAutomation\bin\Debug\net8.0\BDTFeaturesAutomation.dll C:\git\engine-features-automation\BDTFeaturesAutomation\specflow.json
Exit code: 4
Message: 
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'System.Runtime, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'
   at System.ModuleHandle.ResolveMethod(QCallModule module, Int32 methodToken, IntPtr* typeInstArgs, Int32 typeInstCount, IntPtr* methodInstArgs, Int32 methodInstCount)
   at System.ModuleHandle.ResolveMethodHandleInternal(RuntimeModule module, Int32 methodToken, ReadOnlySpan`1 typeInstantiationContext, ReadOnlySpan`1 methodInstantiationContext)
   at System.ModuleHandle.ResolveMethodHandle(Int32 methodToken, RuntimeTypeHandle[] typeInstantiationContext, RuntimeTypeHandle[] methodInstantiationContext)
   at System.RuntimeType.GetMethodBase(RuntimeModule scope, Int32 typeMetadataToken)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeCustomAttributeData..ctor(RuntimeModule scope, MetadataToken caCtorToken, ConstArray& blob)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeCustomAttributeData.GetCustomAttributes(RuntimeModule module, Int32 tkTarget)
   at SpecFlowConnector.ReflectionExecutor.Execute(DiscoveryOptions options, Func`3 testAssemblyFactory, ILogger _log, IAnalyticsContainer analytics) in D:\a\1\s\Connectors\SpecFlow.VisualStudio.SpecFlowConnector.Generic\ReflectionExecutor.cs:line 15
   at SpecFlowConnector.Runner.ExecuteDiscovery(DiscoveryOptions options, Func`3 testAssemblyFactory) in D:\a\1\s\Connectors\SpecFlow.VisualStudio.SpecFlowConnector.Generic\Runner.cs:line 50
   at SpecFlowConnector.Runner.<>c__DisplayClass4_0.<Run>b__0(ConnectorOptions options) in D:\a\1\s\Connectors\SpecFlow.VisualStudio.SpecFlowConnector.Generic\Runner.cs:line 30
   at FunctionalExtensions.Map[TSource,TResult](TSource this, Func`2 fn) in D:\a\1\s\Connectors\SpecFlow.VisualStudio.SpecFlowConnector.Generic\NetExtensions\FunctionalExtensions.cs:line 5
   at SpecFlowConnector.Runner.Run(String[] args, Func`3 testAssemblyFactory) in D:\a\1\s\Connectors\SpecFlow.VisualStudio.SpecFlowConnector.Generic\Runner.cs:line 26
Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException: Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: D. Path '', line 0, position 0.
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader.ParseValue()
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReader.ReadForType(JsonContract contract, Boolean hasConverter)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializerInternalReader.Deserialize(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, Boolean checkAdditionalContent)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer.DeserializeInternal(JsonReader reader, Type objectType)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(String value, Type type, JsonSerializerSettings settings)
   at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject[T](String value, JsonSerializerSettings settings)
   at SpecFlow.VisualStudio.Connectors.OutProcSpecFlowConnector.Deserialize(RunProcessResult result, Func`2 formatErrorMessage)
Warning: AndDiscoveryProviderSucceed: The project bindings (e.g. step definitions) could not be discovered. Navigation, step completion and other features are disabled. 
  Please check the error message above and report to https://github.com/SpecFlowOSS/SpecFlow.VS/issues if you cannot fix.

Conclusion

The practice of asking smart questions can improve the experience for everyone involved. A well-laid-out question and post can make it easier for those helping to understand the problem. It also requires you to truly think about what is happening, which might lead to you solving the problem on your own. When viewers can understand the situation clearly, it makes it easier to receive help.

The advantages are not limited to just the immediate participants either. With a good subject header, a well-structured question, and a valid solution, the asker creates a valuable resource for other users with similar, if not the same, problems. Overall, understanding how, where, and when to ask questions can improve your ability to communicate and problem-solve.

Link to First Question

Link to Second Question

Note that this essay was written with the help of Grammarly to check for grammar and spelling.