How to ask a question

Honestly, this has been covered in so many places, and I’m by no means a psychology professor. I have done my fair share of studying different learning and teaching techniques from when I was a flight instructor, though, so I’d like to share some thoughts on asking effective questions, especially in programming communities.

The Quick Reference Guide

If you don’t feel like reading my post, here are some excellent resources:

• Don’t Ask to Ask
• No Hello
• How do I ask a good question?
• The XY Problem

The Human Element

Here’s the thing: programming communities are filled with people who take advantage of anonymity and forget they’re talking to another human being. Especially when asking questions.

Have some respect. The person answering your question is donating their time and expertise. They’re not your debugging service, your personal tutor, or your employee. They’re a fellow developer who genuinely wants to help, but only if you make it worth their time.

The Golden Rule of Question Phrasing

Give as much effort in asking your question as you would expect the person to give in answering it.

Don’t just post a blob of code and say “why no work?” or “help plz urgent!!!” That shows you don’t value the other person’s time, and they’ll respond accordingly (or more likely, not respond at all; I wouldn’t).

Anatomy of a Good Question

1. Context and Goal

Start with what you’re trying to accomplish:

Bad:

my code doesn't work

Good:

I'm trying to implement a thread-safe queue in C++ for a producer-consumer pattern, 
but I'm getting a segmentation fault when multiple threads try to pop elements.

2. What You’ve Tried

Show your research and debugging efforts:

Bad:

std::vector<int> vec;
vec[0] = 5;  // crashes help???

Good:

std::vector<int> vec;
vec[0] = 5;  // Segfault here

// I understand vectors start empty and need to be sized first.
// I've tried:
// - vec.resize(10) before accessing - this worked
// - vec.reserve(10), still crashes
// - vec.push_back(5), works but I need indexed access

// Why does reserve() not work the same as resize()?

3. Minimal, Complete, Reproducible Example

This is critical. Strip your code down to the minimum that demonstrates the problem:

Bad:

[Dumps 500 lines of code with no context]

Good:

#include <iostream>
#include <memory>

class Resource 
{
    std::unique_ptr<int[]> data;
public:
    Resource(size_t size) : data(std::make_unique<int[]>(size)) {}
    
    // Move constructor
    Resource(Resource&& other) noexcept : data(std::move(other.data)) {}
};

int main() 
{
    Resource r1(10);
    Resource r2(std::move(r1));
    
    // After moving, is r1.data guaranteed to be nullptr?
    // Or is it just "valid but unspecified"?
    
    return 0;
}

4. Your Environment

Include relevant details:

Compiler: GCC 13.2
Flags: -std=c++20 -O2 -Wall
OS: Ubuntu 22.04
Architecture: x86_64

5. Expected vs. Actual Behavior

Be explicit:

Expected: The program should print “5” to the console.

Actual: The program crashes with Segmentation fault (core dumped) at line 23.

Error messages (if any):

error: invalid use of incomplete type 'class Forward'
note: forward declaration of 'class Forward'

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The “It Doesn’t Work” Problem

Help! My code doesn't work!

This tells us nothing. What does “doesn’t work” mean? Does it:

• Not compile?
• Compile but crash?
• Produce wrong output?
• Run too slowly?
• Have undefined behavior?

Be specific!

The XY Problem

You’re trying to solve problem X, you think solution Y will work, so you ask about Y instead of X. Often, Y is the wrong approach entirely.

Example:

Bad: “How do I parse HTML with regex in C++?”

Better: “I need to extract all <a> tag URLs from an HTML document in C++. What’s the best approach?”

The first question locks you into a bad solution (parsing HTML with regex). The second opens the door to better suggestions (using a proper HTML parser library).

The “Do My Homework” Question

Write a C++ program that implements a binary search tree with insert, delete, 
and traversal methods. Due tomorrow.

Nobody will (or should) answer this. Show what you’ve attempted, where you’re stuck, and what specific concept you’re struggling with.

The Zero-Effort Screenshot

Don’t post screenshots of code. Don’t post photos of your screen. Copy and paste actual text that can be:

• Copy-pasted into a compiler
• Searched
• Read by screen readers

The only time screenshots are acceptable is for showing UI issues or error dialogs.

The Debugging Checklist

Before asking, make sure you’ve tried:

1. Reading the error message carefully - Compiler errors often tell you exactly what’s wrong
2. Checking the documentation - RTFM is harsh but often accurate advice
3. Searching for the error - Someone has likely encountered this before
4. Using a debugger - Step through your code, inspect variables
5. Adding print statements - See what’s actually happening at runtime
6. Creating a minimal example - Often you’ll find the bug while simplifying
7. Reading your code out loud - Rubber duck debugging works
8. Taking a break - Fresh eyes catch obvious mistakes

The Respect Factor

Remember: you don’t know what you don’t know. You’re probably leaving out critical information because you don’t realize it’s critical. That’s fine, we’ve all been there.

But show respect by:

• Doing your homework first - Don’t ask questions easily answered by Google
• Valuing others’ time - Make your question clear and complete
• Being patient - People have jobs and lives
• Saying thank you - Someone just saved you hours of debugging
• Following up - If you solve it yourself, post the solution
• Accepting answers - Upvote/accept solutions that help you

For the Answerers

If you’re on the other side and someone asks a bad question:

• Don’t be a jerk - We were all beginners once
• Guide them - Link to “How to ask a question” resources
• Ask clarifying questions - “What error do you get?” “What have you tried?”
• Set boundaries - It’s okay to say “Please provide a minimal example”

The goal is to teach people how to think about problems, not just to fix their immediate issue.

Conclusion

Asking good questions is a skill. It requires empathy, effort, and clear communication. But it’s worth developing because:

1. You’ll get better, faster answers
2. You’ll learn to debug more effectively
3. You’ll build better relationships in the community
4. You’ll become a better developer

And honestly? Writing a good question often leads you to the answer yourself. The process of organizing your thoughts, creating a minimal example, and explaining the problem forces you to understand it better.

So next time you’re about to ask a question, take five extra minutes to do it right. Those five minutes will save hours for both you and the person helping you.

Treat others the way you’d want to be treated. And that includes their time.

Happy debugging!