While computer scientists can be very well-versed in a plethora of different coding languages, some of them can be very incompetent when using spoken languages. I have heard from several professors about how they have hired software engineers and code monkeys with amazing resumes and skills who could not write a proper memo or e-mail to save their life. Unexpectedly, good writing skills are necessary for those looking to enter this field. Not only is it important for IT managers and the like to be able to communicate technical issues to their layman coworkers, it is also important for all programmers to know how to communicate between each other when asking for help. The difference between a properly structured question and a poorly written one is important to getting an answer, and to help everyone figure out how to spot the difference is this guide by Eric Raymond.
After reading his essay/guide, I had a much better understanding of how to structure my questions. More info is always better, except for the cases where it is completely irrelevant. With this info in mind, I went to StackOverflow to look for examples of both good and bad questions. This question is an example of a good question because the author thoroughly describes his goals and his problem while giving relevant snippets of his code with output. The most important part of this question is that the author had tried before asking.
Meanwhile, This is an example of a bad question because this author did not show any attempt to accomplish his goals himself. He simply came onto the forum and asked how to do something; most likely expecting someone to program the entire project for him.
Overall, while Eric’s guide might seem very common sense when you read through it, examples like the poor one above shows that not everyone thinks about these things. It is cases like these that makes me wonder if it is safe to assume knowledge in people…