In this essay I am going to be talking about “smart questions” as defined by Eric Raymond in their essay “How To Ask Questions The Smart Way”. From what he says, smart questions are questions that basically shows a respect for other people’s time and knowledge. To be more specific, it is questions that prior to being asked to a non-acquaintanced group or person as a last resort , has been researched in any other way such as through the web. A smart question is not only about when it should be asked but also how and where it should be asked.
For how to make a smart question, some of the things included are a precise summary of what is trying to be accomplished, the location and what the error is, the expected outcome from the program and the environment in which was made in. In the Stack Overflow forum here is a example of a smart question. The asked includes many aspects of what makes a smart question such as the environment, expected outcome, and error message. Now here is a example of a non-smart question, this question does not clearly explain what they need help in.
For the where aspect of a smart question it is always important to post your question in the correct area’s, you don’t want your question be posted in a forum in which has zero relavence to your topic. It is also important to make sure that the question is posted in forums that answer equally as advanced questions as yours or you might be ignored.