runtimeterror/content/posts/how-to-ask-technical-questions/index.md

title	date	timeless	draft	description
How to Ask Technical Questions	2023-08-26	true	true	There are no dumb questions - but there are smarter (and dumber) ways to ask them.

I spend a lot of my time and energy answering technical questions¹. How a question is asked plays a big factor in how effectively I'll be able to answer it. Years ago I came across Eric Steven Raymond's How To Ask Questions The Smart Way and it really resonated with me. I wish everyone would read it before asking for technical help but I recognize it's a pretty large doc at this point. So I thought I'd summarize some of the main points that I would like to emphasize.

Research Before You Ask

Clear and Specific Subject Line

Correct Spelling and Grammar

Be Precise

...But Not Unnecessarily Verbose

Describe the Symptoms, Not Your Guesses

Describe the Goal, Not the Step

Be Explicit About Your Question

Be Courteous

Follow Up with Solution

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1. Both professionally as well as "for fun" because I love scratching that troubleshooting itch. ↩︎