How to ask questions in the smart wayWord文件下载.docx
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5.Trytofindananswerbyinspectionorexperimentation.
6.Trytofindananswerbyaskingaskilledfriend.
7.Ifyou'
reaprogrammer,trytofindananswerbyreadingthesourcecode.
Whenyouaskyourquestion,displaythefactthatyouhavedonethesethingsfirst;
thiswillhelpestablishthatyou'
renotbeingalazyspongeandwastingpeople'
stime.Betteryet,displaywhatyouhavelearnedfromdoingthesethings.Welikeansweringquestionsforpeoplewhohavedemonstratedtheycanlearnfromtheanswers.
UsetacticslikedoingaGooglesearchonthetextofwhatevererrormessageyouget(searchingGooglegroupsaswellasWebpages).Thismightwelltakeyoustraighttofixdocumentationoramailinglistthreadansweringyourquestion.Evenifitdoesn'
t,saying“Igoogledonthefollowingphrasebutdidn'
tgetanythingthatlookedpromising”isagoodthingtodoine-mailornewspostingsrequestinghelp,ifonlybecauseitrecordswhatsearcheswon'
thelp.Itwillalsohelptodirectotherpeoplewithsimilarproblemstoyourthreadbylinkingthesearchtermstowhatwillhopefullybeyourproblemandresolutionthread.
Takeyourtime.DonotexpecttobeabletosolveacomplicatedproblemwithafewsecondsofGoogling.ReadandunderstandtheFAQs,sitback,relaxandgivetheproblemsomethoughtbeforeapproachingexperts.Trustus,theywillbeabletotellfromyourquestionshowmuchreadingandthinkingyoudid,andwillbemorewillingtohelpifyoucomeprepared.Don'
tinstantlyfireyourwholearsenalofquestionsjustbecauseyourfirstsearchturnedupnoanswers(ortoomany).
Prepareyourquestion.Thinkitthrough.Hasty-soundingquestionsgethastyanswers,ornoneatall.Themoreyoudotodemonstratethathavingputthoughtandeffortintosolvingyourproblembeforeseekinghelp,themorelikelyyouaretoactuallygethelp.
Bewareofaskingthewrongquestion.Ifyouaskonethatisbasedonfaultyassumptions,J.RandomHackerisquitelikelytoreplywithauselesslyliteralanswerwhilethinking“Stupidquestion...”,andhopingtheexperienceofgettingwhatyouaskedforratherthanwhatyouneededwillteachyoualesson.
Neverassumeyouareentitledtoananswer.Youarenot;
youaren'
t,afterall,payingfortheservice.Youwillearnananswer,ifyouearnit,byaskingasubstantial,interesting,andthought-provokingquestion—onethatimplicitlycontributestotheexperienceofthecommunityratherthanmerelypassivelydemandingknowledgefromothers.
Ontheotherhand,makingitclearthatyouareableandwillingtohelpintheprocessofdevelopingthesolutionisaverygoodstart.“Wouldsomeoneprovideapointer?
”,“Whatismyexamplemissing?
”,and“WhatsiteshouldIhavechecked?
”aremorelikelytogetansweredthan“PleaseposttheexactprocedureIshoulduse.”becauseyou'
remakingitclearthatyou'
retrulywillingtocompletetheprocessifsomeonecanjustpointyouintherightdirection.
WhenYouAsk
Chooseyourforumcarefully
Besensitiveinchoosingwhereyouaskyourquestion.Youarelikelytobeignored,orwrittenoffasaloser,ifyou:
∙postyourquestiontoaforumwhereit'
sofftopic
∙postaveryelementaryquestiontoaforumwhereadvancedtechnicalquestionsareexpected,orvice-versa
∙cross-posttotoomanydifferentnewsgroups
∙postapersonale-mailtosomebodywhoisneitheranacquaintanceofyoursnorpersonallyresponsibleforsolvingyourproblem
Hackersblowoffquestionsthatareinappropriatelytargetedinordertotrytoprotecttheircommunicationschannelsfrombeingdrownedinirrelevance.Youdon'
twantthistohappentoyou.
Thefirststep,therefore,istofindtherightforum.Again,GoogleandotherWeb-searchingmethodsareyourfriend.Usethemtofindtheprojectwebpagemostcloselyassociatedwiththehardwareorsoftwaregivingyoudifficulties.UsuallyitwillhavelinkstoaFAQ(FrequentlyAskedQuestions)list,andtoprojectmailinglistsandtheirarchives.Thesemailinglistsarethefinalplacestogoforhelp,ifyourownefforts(includingreadingthoseFAQsyoufound)donotfindyouasolution.Theprojectpagemayalsodescribeabug-reportingprocedure,orhavealinktoone;
ifso,followit.
Shootingoffane-mailtoapersonorforumwhichyouarenotfamiliarwithisriskyatbest.Forexample,donotassumethattheauthorofaninformativewebpagewantstobeyourfreeconsultant.Donotmakeoptimisticguessesaboutwhetheryourquestionwillbewelcome—ifyou'
reunsure,senditelsewhere,orrefrainfromsendingitatall.
WhenselectingaWebforum,newsgroupormailinglist,don'
ttrustthenamebyitselftoofar;
lookforaFAQorchartertoverifyyourquestionison-topic.Readsomeofthebacktrafficbeforepostingsoyou'
llgetafeelforhowthingsaredonethere.Infact,it'
saverygoodideatodoakeywordsearchforwordsrelatingtoyourproblemonthenewsgroupormailinglistarchivesbeforeyoupost.Itmayfindyouananswer,andifnotitwillhelpyouformulateabetterquestion.
Don'
tshotgun-blastalltheavailablehelpchannelsatonce,that'
slikeyellingandirritatespeople.Stepthroughthemsoftly.
Knowwhatyourtopicis!
OneoftheclassicmistakesisaskingquestionsabouttheUnixorWindowsprogramminginterfaceinaforumdevotedtoalanguageorlibraryortoolportableacrossboth.Ifyoudon'
tunderstandwhythisisablunder,you'
dbebestoffnotaskinganyquestionsatalluntilyougetit.
Ingeneral,questionstoawell-selectedpublicforumaremorelikelytogetusefulanswersthanequivalentquestionstoaprivateone.Therearemultiplereasonsforthis.Oneissimplythesizeofthepoolofpotentialrespondents.Anotheristhesizeoftheaudience;
hackerswouldratheranswerquestionsthateducatemanypeoplethanquestionsservingonlyafew.
Understandably,skilledhackersandauthorsofpopularsoftwarearealreadyreceivingmorethantheirfairshareofmis-targetedmessages.Byaddingtotheflood,youcouldinextremecasesevenbethestrawthatbreaksthecamel'
sback—quiteafewtimes,contributorstopopularprojectshavewithdrawntheirsupportbecausecollateraldamageintheformofuselesse-mailtraffictotheirpersonalaccountsbecameunbearable.
WebandIRCforumsdirectedtowardsnewbiesoftengivethequickestresponse
Yourlocalusergroup,oryourLinuxdistribution,mayadvertiseaWebforumorIRCchannelwherenewbiescangethelp.(Innon-English-speakingcountriesnewbieforumsarestillmorelikelytobemailinglists.)Thesearegoodfirstplacestoask,especiallyifyouthinkyoumayhavetrippedoverarelativelysimpleorcommonproblem.AnadvertisedIRCchannelisanopeninvitationtoaskquestionsthereandoftengetanswersinrealtime.
Infact,ifyougottheprogramthatisgivingyouproblemsfromaLinuxdistribution(asiscommontoday),itmaybebettertoaskinthedistro'
sforum/listbeforetryingtheprogram'
sprojectforum/list.Theproject'
shackersmayjustsay,“useourbuild”.
BeforepostingtoanyWebforum,checkifithasaSearchfeature.Ifitdoes,tryacoupleofkeywordsearchesforsomethinglikeyourproblem;
itjustmighthelp.IfyoudidageneralWebsearchbefore(asyoushouldhave),searchtheforumanyway;
yourWeb-widesearchenginemightnothaveallofthisforumindexedrecently.
ThereisanincreasingtendencyforprojectstodousersupportoveraWebforumorIRCchannel,withe-mailreservedmorefordevelopmenttraffic.Solookforthosechannelsfirstwhenseekingproject-specifichelp.
Asasecondstep,useprojectmailinglists
Whenaprojecthasadevelopmentmailinglist,writetothemailinglist,nottoindividualdevelopers,evenifyoubelieveyouknowwhocanbestansweryourquestion.Checkthedocumentationoftheprojectanditshomepagefortheaddressofaprojectmailinglist,anduseit.Thereareseveralgoodreasonsforthispolicy:
∙Anyquestiongoodenoughtobeaskedofonedeveloperwillalsobeofvaluetothewholegroup.Contrariwise,ifyoususpectyourquestionistoodumbforamailinglist,it'
snotanexcusetoharassindividualdevelopers.
∙Askingquestionsonthelistdistributesloadamongdevelopers.Theindividualdeveloper(especiallyifhe'
stheprojectleader)maybetoobusytoansweryourquestions.
∙Mostmailinglistsarearchivedandthearchivesareindexedbysearchengines.Ifyouaskyourquestionon-listanditisanswered,afuturequerentcouldfindyourquestionandtheanswerontheWebinsteadofaskingitagain.
∙Ifcertainquestionsareseentobeaskedoften,developerscanusethatinformationtoimprovethedocumentationorthesoftwareitselftobelessconfusing.Butifthosequestionsareaskedinprivate,nobodyhasthecompletepictureofwhatquestionsareaskedmostoften.
Ifaprojecthasbotha“user”anda“developer”(or“hacker”)mailinglistorWebforum,andyouarenothackingonthecode,askinthe“user”list/forum.Donotassumethatyouwillbewelcomeonthedeveloperlist,wherethey'
relikelytoexperienceyourquestionasnoisedisruptingtheirdevelopertraffic.
However,ifyouaresureyourquestionisnon-trivial,andyougetnoanswerinthe“user”list/forumfor