The Lessons StackOverflow Taught me
In 2016, I started contributing in StackOverflow. I used to think that StackOverflow is just good for looking up answers and helping you debug the issues you face every day. It is lot more than that, and sadly, not many people know about it.
The best part about StackOverflow is not just looking up the existing questions & answers and finding your way in fixing the issues, It is contributing back.
Asking a Question:
When I got stuck with a problem, and none of my friends or colleagues are aware of the solution, the first thing I would do is search for that in multiple places and obviously StackOverflow is the first place I would check.
Right before posting the question in StackOverflow, I would just like to make sure that question is very clear and straight to the point. The process of framing the question properly itself will do wonders. Most of the times, I would realize the solution even before posting the question.
This is the first thing that I learned from StackOverflow, explaining things to self is the best way to understand the details.
Answering a Question:
Now coming to answering part, sometimes I’ll just encounter a question which is the issue I faced recently and fixed it and sometimes I’ll just a see a question which is pretty naive (don’t be fooled, not always an easy one). I’ll jump into typing the stuff I’m aware of, or how I fixed that issue.
Right before submitting the answer in StackOverflow, Again I would just like to make sure that what I’m answering is straight to the point and informative and also correct in the first place. I’ve to read the docs, related blogs posts, try out the stuff and lots of things just to make sure my answer is correct. I realized that there is a lot to learn even when answering simple questions.
This is the second thing that I learned from StackOverflow, explaining things to others is the best way to learn.
What Next?
Learning from the lessons, StackOverflow taught me, I would like to teach/share everything I learn from the year 2017. Let it be a lifelong resolution.
I haven’t finished learning If I haven’t shared or taught someone about that. If you’re interested in the journey of learning along with me, Keep an eye on this blog.
Let’s begin the New Year by teaching others and learning from that.
Happy New Year 2017 :-)
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