How to Ask for Help as a New Programmer
As a new programmer, asking for help is intimidating. For example, the go-to place for programmers to ask questions: StackOverflow, is notoriously hostile towards beginners.
That is why I created two Facebook groups where beginners can go to ask for help: The Self-Taught Programmers Facebook group, and the Go Self-Taught group (specifically for new programmers taking my introduction to coding course) In this post, I am going to go over a few best practices for asking for help when you are new to programming.
Format Your Code
The number one mistake new programmers make when they are asking for help is forgetting to format their code. When you are asking a question about a piece of code, you need to use a third-party tool, like Github Gists, to send it (or use StackOverflow’s built-in tool if you are asking on there).
For example, you never want to copy and paste code directly into a Facebook post.
Instead, you should type the code into a Github Gist and include a link to it when you ask your question.
That way, whoever is helping you can quickly run your code and diagnose the problem.
Google Before You Ask
Another mistake beginner’s make is asking before Googling. Whenever you have a question, make sure to spend at least five minutes searching for the answer yourself.
This is important because while most programmers are happy to help answer your question, if you didn’t at least attempt to solve the problem yourself, it comes across like you don’t value their time.
Assume You Are Making a Mistake
One more mistake beginners make is assuming the code example (from whatever book or course they are taking) is wrong or doesn’t work.
While it is true that people that the people that create programming resources are not infallible, since you are a beginner, it is much more likely that you are making a mistake than it is that the resource you are using is incorrect. While you are still learning, you should always assume you are making a mistake and either keep trying different approaches or ask for help.
Ask Away!
When you are learning to program, you will have tons of questions, and that is ok! You should make sure to ask them because you want to avoid getting stuck and giving up at all costs.
Learning to program is hard, so don’t get discouraged if you are making a lot of mistakes at first. Remember: it is difficult for everyone at first. So when you are learning, make sure to ask as many questions as you need to (as long as you follow suggestions in this post)!
