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https://github.com/WieeRd/questionable

How do I ask a good question?
https://github.com/WieeRd/questionable

documentation guide guidelines question questions

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How do I ask a good question?

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# Questionable



> How do I ask a good question?



**That is a great question!**



[[English](https://github.com/WieeRd/questionable)]

[[한국어](/i18n/ko.md)]



## TL;DR



Use this copypasta to answer every *questionable* question.  

Make sure to include the source when quoting this guide :)



```markdown

> How do I ask a good question?



## "Can anyone help me with ABC?"

- Don't ask if you can ask, just ask.

- Ask for an answer, not 'someone who can help'.



## You have problem X, you tried Y.

- How do I make Y work? (X)

- How do I solve X? I tried Y. (O)



## "It doesn't work" just doesn't work.

- What's the goal?

- What have you tried?

- What's wrong with the current behavior?



## Read the damn error message. Seriously.

- 90% of the time it tells you exactly where and what is wrong.

- Tip: Read the top and bottom part of the error message first.



Learn more at 

```



## 1. Don't Ask for Help, Ask a Question



> Can anyone help me with ABC?  

> Is there anyone who uses ABC?



You're wasting time. Just ask the question.  

This also implies that you're asking for "someone who can help";  

expecting someone else to solve the problem for you.  

Don't. Write a proper question and ask for an *answer*.



Learn more at 



## 2. Describe the Goal, Not the Solution



You have problem X, your solution Y failed.



- How do I make Y work? (X)

- How do I solve X? I tried Y. (O)



**What if Y was a wrong approach in the first place?**  

It can end up wasting both you and the answerer's time with confusion.  

Remember that the real goal is to solve X, not fixing Y.



Learn more at 



## 3. Provide Enough Information



> It doesn't work.



That is not a question, that's a complaint.  

What is "it"? How exactly is it "not working"?



### What's the Goal?



Describe the problem in terms of:



- Expected **input**

- Desired **output** / behavior

- **Relationship** between the input & output



### What Have You Tried?



Describe your attempt in detail, with the used code.  

Extract the relevant part to eliminate unnecessary details.  

Ideally, make the extracted code [executable by itself][MRE].



[MRE]: https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example



### What's Wrong?



Describe the current behavior and compare it with the expectation.  

Always provide the *full* error message. Not just the error code.



```text

I want my program to {expected output} upon {expected input}.

I tried {code example} but it produces {error | output example}.

This is not what I intended because {reason}.

```



## 4. Read the Damn Error Message



> (screenshot) Why am I getting this error?



Errors are not just scary wall of text meant to frustrate us.  

With the exact line number and brief description of the cause,  

90% of the time they are more than enough to solve the problem.



**Before you ask, please *read*, and not just *see*, the error message.**



Tip: Read the top and bottom part of the error message first.



## Learn More



This guide is meant to be absolutely minimal for fast and easy read.  

If you're looking for more detailed resources for a further reading,  

Here are some of the most useful and well known resources.



- 

- 

- 

- 

- 



## About



Hi! I'm [@WieeRd](https://github.com/WieeRd), the author of this guide.  

After roaming around various communities and help channels for few years,  

I decided to write a guide by putting together most frequently seen mistakes.



This guide is not meant to be comprehensive or detailed.  

The resources listed above already do a great job of that.  

Rather, it's meant to be used as:



- A cheat-sheet to refer to before asking questions

- A copypasta that can be quoted when someone asks a "questionable" question



Whether you are a curious beginner full of questions, or a veteran  

who got tired of manually guiding beginners to improve their questions,  

I hope this guide continues to help you on your journey.  

Happy Hacking!



## Contributing



Want to help out improving and translating this guide?  

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](/CONTRIBUTING.md)