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Emphasize and expand content that competitors fail at or deliberately exclude. This section of What type of questions can I ask here? is already a big deal, but it could be bigger: Best practic...
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#2: Post edited
by
Kevin Krumwiede
·
2024-02-17T14:31:24Z (2 months ago)
- **Emphasize and expand content that competitors fail at or deliberately exclude.**
- This section of [What type of questions can I ask here?](https://software.codidact.com/help/on-topic) is already a big deal, but it could be bigger:
- > **Best practices**, as long as clear "best" criteria are provided. Examples: fastest execution, least memory use, widest tool support for a target, IDE for a certain language and operating system
- Software development is an art, not a science. Attempting to reduce it to black-and-white technical facts is futile and actively harms understanding. Stack Overflow's aggressive exclusion of "opinion-based" questions severely hinders the transmission of knowledge. A medium for transmitting the deep insights of long experience is something the world desperately needs, because formal education has always failed at it, and long-term professional relationships that create a business case for employers investing in their employees are a thing of the past.
Novices often frame a question as "What is better, X or Y?" This is a teachable moment. We can factually discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions, the history of their popularity, and the real-world reasons you would choose one over the other. On SO, such a question would be closed immediately.
- **Emphasize and expand content that competitors fail at or deliberately exclude.**
- This section of [What type of questions can I ask here?](https://software.codidact.com/help/on-topic) is already a big deal, but it could be bigger:
- > **Best practices**, as long as clear "best" criteria are provided. Examples: fastest execution, least memory use, widest tool support for a target, IDE for a certain language and operating system
- Software development is an art, not a science. Attempting to reduce it to black-and-white technical facts is futile and actively harms understanding. Stack Overflow's aggressive exclusion of "opinion-based" questions severely hinders the transmission of knowledge. A medium for transmitting the deep insights of long experience is something the world desperately needs, because formal education has always failed at it, and long-term professional relationships that create a business case for employers investing in their employees are a thing of the past.
- Novices often frame a question as "What is better, X or Y?" This is a teachable moment. We can factually discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions, the history of their popularity, and the real-world reasons you would choose one over the other. On SO, such a question would be closed immediately.
- **Edit:** SO is now promoting their new Discussions site, a place for opinion-based and otherwise fuzzy questions, which is what this site should have been. It already has more traffic than this site. This makes me sad, because while I want such a site to exist, I don't want those jerks controlling it.
#1: Initial revision
by
Kevin Krumwiede
·
2023-10-13T17:00:09Z (7 months ago)
**Emphasize and expand content that competitors fail at or deliberately exclude.** This section of [What type of questions can I ask here?](https://software.codidact.com/help/on-topic) is already a big deal, but it could be bigger: > **Best practices**, as long as clear "best" criteria are provided. Examples: fastest execution, least memory use, widest tool support for a target, IDE for a certain language and operating system Software development is an art, not a science. Attempting to reduce it to black-and-white technical facts is futile and actively harms understanding. Stack Overflow's aggressive exclusion of "opinion-based" questions severely hinders the transmission of knowledge. A medium for transmitting the deep insights of long experience is something the world desperately needs, because formal education has always failed at it, and long-term professional relationships that create a business case for employers investing in their employees are a thing of the past. Novices often frame a question as "What is better, X or Y?" This is a teachable moment. We can factually discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions, the history of their popularity, and the real-world reasons you would choose one over the other. On SO, such a question would be closed immediately.