I’ve been spending some time of my days helping others at StackOverflow. StackOverflow (SO) is the best place to ask questions related to software programming. There you can be sure that someone somewhere will help you to find an answer to your question.
Note: I just got out of my job at Chemtech. Now I have more time to focus in other things and to think a little bit more about what I want to do next.
As a consequence I decided that I’ll try to give back and share a portion of the knowledge I acquired in these 7 years of programming experience. By means of helping others at StackOverflow I just improve what I think I already know. This is a bit controversial you may say, but I don’t think so. I’m constantly learning/unlearning and discovering new things at SO. I keep trying to sharpen my programming skills. This just happens somewhat in a recursive way. One finding leads to other that then brings you back to the main topic that then expands and so forth.
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38
I’m kind of a generalist (I’m after the generalist badge), that is, I don’t tie myself to any technology. I’ll try to use the one that fits better in a given task/job be it close-source or open-source. If a technology allows me to get the thing done that’s the one I’ll choose. This is reflected in the variety of tags at my StackOverflow profile:
Of course there are well established technologies that are easier to work with as is the case of C# programming language, ASP.NET, Java, etc. Again this can be seen both on my tags and in the quantity of questions tagged with such technologies. Being easier to work with means having a greater user base throughout the world and this is reflected at StackOverflow tags as well.
The title of this post is what motivated me to write and I hope will motivate others too so that they give back a portion of what they know.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
I then invite you: if you’d like to get free answers to your coding questions or if you want to write better code or if you want to start at SO and be happy or whatever related to coding problems, I suggest you to read the FAQ and create an account at SO.
You see, we should help each other. There are times that we get stuck at some coding problems for hours and we don’t know what to do to get over them. With millions of programming peers having the most varied backgrounds willing to help and sharing what they know is what makes a developer’s life valuable and exciting. At StackOverflow you find what summarizes this last phrase. In just a minute you can get an answer that’ll allow you to continue your work. If you compare minutes to hours it’s clear why StackOverflow is so fantastic.
The sum of our good programming efforts builds a better software product. LOL <(^^,)>
By Leniel Macaferi
As of the time of this writing, for stats purposes, I have 4257 reputation,18 badges, 2 questions asked and 288 questions answered at SO. A pretty good amount of answers as a start for someone who’s also after the fanatic badge. I can assure you I’m more than half way there already. Badges are not the point of this post but they make the whole thing a little bit more motivating. Badges at SO are recognitions that come with time just as in real life. The more you share the more recognition you earn.
I take my hat off to the people that started such great site. I hope that it grows even more in the years to come with more and more users trying to learn this admirable profession of software developer that in my humble opinion is the best one. I’m biased towards it after all.
At SO we just happen to have pretty good discussions about anything related to programming including What’s your favorite “programmer” cartoon? and Is a master’s degree overkill? ranging to the more diverse topics. In one of those really interesting discussions I found this brilliant saying that I think holds true in this world:
When you finish your bachelor's, you think you know everything; When you finish your master's, you realize you know nothing; When you finish your doctorate, you realize nobody knows anything, including whether or not you needed to finish a doctorate to realize that.
By Unknown
Although I haven’t taken a master’s or doctorate course yet I can write about the bachelor’s part. When I finished the bachelor’s I already knew that I didn’t know nothing. I think that when I finish the master’s I’ll realize nobody knows anything. One less step to realize that. What will happen then if I take a doctorate course? Simply put: (no one knows nothing ) ^ Googol I think. :)
Final Note: I also put in practice this same share and learn principle at ProZ.com.
Further references
I suggest you check these two posts by Jon Skeet:
Writing the perfect question
Answering technical questions helpfully
