Please don't just say "Hi". Send a purposeful message
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This might more of a personal note that I want to shout out to people, than anything else.
I don’t like messages that start with a “Hi!” and then just wait for me to respond to messages. Congratulations, you’ve wasted your time, and my time.
Regardless of your job, position or the field of work, we work in people society and work in a people organization. We have work across things, and within things. By things, i mean, projects, teams, seniority, focus areas, subject matter experts, etc.
There are only two places you can find the answer to your questions. It’s either the internet, or the intranet. It can be difficult to be sure that you’ve knocked on all doors before actually reaching out for help. Granted, it is a tricky situation to be in, especially if you can get your answer quickly by asking someone, it takes awy the learning curve and finding the balance, when to throw questions and when to look for answers is a balance you need to find, and your situation will help you look for the balance.
the art of finding the answer.
please, first, hack your way to answer.
The answer, awaits your searching, you just need to know where to look, or at least get good at dorking for answers.
Simple tips, that help me quickly look for things.
- apt41 filetype:pdf / filetype:docx filetype:json
- api site:developer.tenable.com
- “mysql-connector-nodejs-“ site:developer.tenable.com
there is an entire database (linked above) to help you craft your queries.
Read the fucking manual…
The tool that you’re using has the answers to the question. RTFM… the manual, how I define it might be different than what people define it. But manual, for me, is anything that the tool covers. It is the forums, it is the pull requests, it is the code, irc channgels, mailing lists, it is the documentation that comes along with the code.
Do your subjective best, and try and find an answer, and showcase what you have looked for. In this world, where people are reading less and less, showcase that you’ve read something. If the information has been put out there, it has been put out there with a purpose. the purpose being, less stupid questions. (My subjective opinion).
Don’t give answers to questions from an LLM
If you’re in the wonderful position of being considered to contribute to an article, please don’t use an LLM to answer the questions a human being is being asked. it defeats the purpose, puts a dent at your reputation, and overall (at least for me), only helps you lose out respect from fellow mates. If you are cheating, cheat better. If anything, you might be inclined towards hacking the system, which in turn opens up different doors.
Reach out with a purpose.
Better messages, please! please be verbose. give as much information you can, summarizing (for the audience it is intended) what have you tried. That could mean
- better subjects for emails
- better formatting for body of the emails. NOT large paragraphs.
- LOCs for code
- Links for similar issues, and other PRs that could’ve caused the questions
- Intranet information (as much as you search the internet, you ought to also search the internal Knowledge Base)
- DEBUG logs! One of the most important aspect of adding DEBUG logs, is so that people can answer questions. if there is verbose output from something, provide that.
- Where specifically, are you/your code glitching out? let the people know
Find the balance
Like i said before, the problem with the above information, is that it is too generic. If you always have access to internet resources, and the intranet resources, you’ll get confused and probbaly bogged down by just looking for answers. Finding the right balance, between looking for the answer, and asking for help is an art that I haven’t been able to learn yet. It is tricky. BUT, look for the answers, try your best, whatever best that means for you, show that you’ve done something and then ask the question.
Hey, don’t feel like you MUST explore all possible paths to finding an answer. It is that you SHOULD, it helps you learn, helps me learn, helps us learn.
References
- http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
- https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2119