Smart Questions = Fast Answers: Asking for Help with Efficiency
Software Engineer's guide to ask questions effectively, and avoid being ghosted :P
When I started my career, I never expected that asking questions is a skill. I always threw my questions to the team, with the assumption that everyone knew what I was working on.
I got ghosted a lot 😅
After I moved to a senior position, I started to get a lot of similar questions from junior devs. For example:
“Hi. My tests didn’t pass, could you help?”
How? What’s the context? What’s the error message? What have you tried? 🤔
And I realized that asking smart questions actually speeds up the process 🚀
In this post, I’m sharing all the tips and tricks that I know about asking questions.
First, Do Your Own Research
Before asking others for help, take time to explore the problem yourself. This step builds your skills and shows respect for others' time.
Also, for most of the time, answers are already there in the documentation.
Reading Error Messages when Troubleshooting:
If you’re debugging a coding issue, error messages often point directly to the problem. Make sure you d…