Why do you come here when you can go to StackOverflow ?

[Tom Joe]

I used this website more than 5 years ago and learned a thing or two. But, since I saw Stack overflow, I almost never came back. Why do you come here instead of going to SO, besides SO sometimes being unfriendly to beginners ?

[Tim Moores]

Because SO frequently (not just sometimes) is unfriendly to just about everybody (not just beginners) :-)

[Tim Holloway]

In practical terms, you go there for finished solutions, you come here for understanding. We're more interested in telling you the why and the how and letting you use that knowledge to gain the what.

The hope is that if you truly understand what you're doing, you'll do it better and that you might not have to go running to copy-and-paste for every little piece of your application and that the pieces will be better integrated into the entire application.

Beyond that, our most fundamental rule is "be nice". Before there was Stack Overflow, we were about the only place you could ask "dumb" Java questions and not get flamed. We're quite happy to answer the same "dumb" questions all day long.

Which brings us back to one of the major complaints about StackOverflow. Which is that, while they have never been known for flaming as such, you almost invariable did have to endure a litany of admonitions about why you posted your question wrong or should have never posted it in the first place.

In fact, it was causing such a problem that in recent months they have made active efforts to make themselves less contentious. It's hard to tell yet how well that worked, though.

[Al Hobbs]

SO comes up alot when googling some basic stuff i dont want to look up myself.  As far as actually interacting on SO it seems to have alot of toxic people as far as my experience goes.  

[fred rosenberger]

sometimes, I just want someone to give me ready to eat food. Much of the time, I want to cook.  

that's why I come here.  I like to learn to cook new things, and I like to teach others how to cook on their own.

[Liutauras Vilda]

Tom Joe wrote:Why do you come here instead of going to SO

First, both forums don't fight with each other, nor fight for the audience. At least I don't think they do. We (CodeRanch) sometimes even reference them (SO). Having more forums is healthy for the entire community, I think. Both forums are different and serve different purpose.

I'd highlight differences in such way:
StackOverflow - provides you with knowledge portfolio
CodeRanch - helps you to build your own knowledge portfolio

In other words:
StackOverflow - provides you with different ways of how to drive the car
CodeRanch - explains what makes car to be drivable


In my opinion to follow CodeRanch's course is much harder and for the result to come may take much longer. Everybody makes their own conclusions as for what they are seeking for (i.e. short-term; long-term).

[Liutauras Vilda]

Last Saturday I've been (as many other dads with their kids) with my son to a hike called "Dads Go Wild" organized by his day nursery school.

This specific hike event is mainly for the kids 1-5 years old.

We were exploring nature and were learning how to help animals to find the food, how to distinct frog from toad, how to clean the pond, how to build a campfire.

The result was, the we were enjoying process so much, that at the end we appreciate the surrounding by understanding how the end result is derived.

Those schools seem to know well what is best for the kids at early days.

[Tim Moores]

Some previous discussions:
Really frustrated with Stackoverflow and need to vent

Is it just me or that Stack Exchange (especially Stack Overflow) is almost useless?

coderanch, stackoverflow, <something else> Which one do you prefer and why?

[Randy Maddocks]

I prefer coming here for reasons pointed out in previous replies to this post. Offhandedly, if you want something akin to looking up answers in the back of the book go to sites like SO. However, if you want to break down the problem, look at it from different angles and perspectives, and ultimately come to an understanding of the problem and how to resolve it, then you come here.

Slightly off-topic, but one thing that really bothers me is when people post very vague questions, provide little or no information on what their intent is and what they have done thus far to try and fix the problem. This isn't a defence of sites like SO where you often see people being berated for their post, it's never okay to blatantly put people down because they don't understand how something works, or how to proceed on fixing a problem. However, I think one can be forgiven for getting a little agitated when someone does not take the time to submit a meaningful, clear and organized post. The "I do this, but it doesn't work..." phrase we see all too often is, dare I say, an insult to the people who volunteer their time, energy and skills freely to help others resolve their problem(s). The other I see quite often is the "...here's my homework question, do it for me..." type of post.

I'll leave it there.

My venting for the day...

[Tim Holloway]

Randy Maddocks wrote:
Slightly off-topic, but one thing that really bothers me is when people post very vague questions, provide little or no information on what their intent is and what they have done thus far to try and fix the problem. This isn't a defence of sites like SO where you often see people being berated for their post, it's never okay to blatantly put people down because they don't understand how something works, or how to proceed on fixing a problem. However, I think one can be forgiven for getting a little agitated when someone does not take the time to submit a meaningful, clear and organized post. The "I do this, but it doesn't work..." phrase we see all too often is, dare I say, an insult to the people who volunteer their time, energy and skills freely to help others resolve their problem(s). The other I see quite often is the "...here's my homework question, do it for me..." type of post.

Ah, you mean It Doesn't Work Is Useless.

I think we also have a canned "Do My Homework" entry, but I'm too lazy to check.

[Randy Maddocks]

Tim Holloway wrote:Ah, you mean It Doesn't Work Is Useless.

I think we also have a canned "Do My Homework" entry, but I'm too lazy to check.

That's it!  Someone once began their response to a vague post with "we're not mind readers...". My thoughts exactly!

[Knute Snortum]

Tim Holloway wrote:I think we also have a canned "Do My Homework" entry, but I'm too lazy to check.

DoYourOwnHomework