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Community Bot
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I don't understand your premise:

people who would like to ask good programming questions on Stack Overflow, but don't currently have the needed skills to do so.

I'll break down my response into two parts:

1) There's no secret formula for asking good questions on Stack Overflow

Since when is it difficult to ask a good programming question on Stack Overflow? If your question is both clear and non-trivial, like any "good programming question" from a professional or enthusiast programmerprofessional or enthusiast programmer, it's very likely to be well received.

The problem is that we get a LOT of amateur programmers, or people who have absolutely no interest in programming (at least, in a specific language), and come here looking for someone else to solve their problems for them. Those users get a lot of negative attention. Perhaps some would-be participants see that negative attention and incorrectly assume that's how we treat all new users, that there's some secret ritual one must follow to earn points and, more importantly, get answers. That assumption is incorrect and I believe posts like this just add fuel to that fire.

2) Asking good questions is hard, no matter where you ask them

Asking good questions is not something that's unique to Stack Overflow. It's a skill that must be learned and there are numerous books and articles on the deceptively simple topic of asking good questions:

If people are struggling to ask good questions on Stack Overflow, it's not because Stack Overflow is a particularly difficult place to ask good questions, it's because the author doesn't know how to ask a good question in the first place.

In that sense, waiting to learn how to ask a good question until you need help with a serious problem is like waiting to learn Tae Bo until you're being mugged. Sure, a tip or two given in a hurry about providing a code sample or telling us what you've already tried is going to help a little bit, but it's not going to help much. Especially if you fall into the category described above: you're not a regex programmer, but you really need someone to do your work for you ASAPyou're not a regex programmer, but you really need someone to do your work for you ASAP.

I don't understand your premise:

people who would like to ask good programming questions on Stack Overflow, but don't currently have the needed skills to do so.

I'll break down my response into two parts:

1) There's no secret formula for asking good questions on Stack Overflow

Since when is it difficult to ask a good programming question on Stack Overflow? If your question is both clear and non-trivial, like any "good programming question" from a professional or enthusiast programmer, it's very likely to be well received.

The problem is that we get a LOT of amateur programmers, or people who have absolutely no interest in programming (at least, in a specific language), and come here looking for someone else to solve their problems for them. Those users get a lot of negative attention. Perhaps some would-be participants see that negative attention and incorrectly assume that's how we treat all new users, that there's some secret ritual one must follow to earn points and, more importantly, get answers. That assumption is incorrect and I believe posts like this just add fuel to that fire.

2) Asking good questions is hard, no matter where you ask them

Asking good questions is not something that's unique to Stack Overflow. It's a skill that must be learned and there are numerous books and articles on the deceptively simple topic of asking good questions:

If people are struggling to ask good questions on Stack Overflow, it's not because Stack Overflow is a particularly difficult place to ask good questions, it's because the author doesn't know how to ask a good question in the first place.

In that sense, waiting to learn how to ask a good question until you need help with a serious problem is like waiting to learn Tae Bo until you're being mugged. Sure, a tip or two given in a hurry about providing a code sample or telling us what you've already tried is going to help a little bit, but it's not going to help much. Especially if you fall into the category described above: you're not a regex programmer, but you really need someone to do your work for you ASAP.

I don't understand your premise:

people who would like to ask good programming questions on Stack Overflow, but don't currently have the needed skills to do so.

I'll break down my response into two parts:

1) There's no secret formula for asking good questions on Stack Overflow

Since when is it difficult to ask a good programming question on Stack Overflow? If your question is both clear and non-trivial, like any "good programming question" from a professional or enthusiast programmer, it's very likely to be well received.

The problem is that we get a LOT of amateur programmers, or people who have absolutely no interest in programming (at least, in a specific language), and come here looking for someone else to solve their problems for them. Those users get a lot of negative attention. Perhaps some would-be participants see that negative attention and incorrectly assume that's how we treat all new users, that there's some secret ritual one must follow to earn points and, more importantly, get answers. That assumption is incorrect and I believe posts like this just add fuel to that fire.

2) Asking good questions is hard, no matter where you ask them

Asking good questions is not something that's unique to Stack Overflow. It's a skill that must be learned and there are numerous books and articles on the deceptively simple topic of asking good questions:

If people are struggling to ask good questions on Stack Overflow, it's not because Stack Overflow is a particularly difficult place to ask good questions, it's because the author doesn't know how to ask a good question in the first place.

In that sense, waiting to learn how to ask a good question until you need help with a serious problem is like waiting to learn Tae Bo until you're being mugged. Sure, a tip or two given in a hurry about providing a code sample or telling us what you've already tried is going to help a little bit, but it's not going to help much. Especially if you fall into the category described above: you're not a regex programmer, but you really need someone to do your work for you ASAP.

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JDB
JDB
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I don't understand your premise:

people who would like to ask good programming questions on Stack Overflow, but don't currently have the needed skills to do so.

I'll break down my response into two parts:

1) There's no secret formula for asking good questions on Stack Overflow

Since when is it difficult to ask a good programming question on Stack Overflow? If your question is both clear and non-trivial, like any "good programming question" from a professional or enthusiast programmer, it's very likely to be well received.

The problem is that we get a LOT of amateur programmers, or people who have absolutely no interest in programming (at least, in a specific language), and come here looking for someone else to solve their problems for them. Those users get a lot of negative attention. Perhaps some would-be participants see that negative attention and incorrectly assume that's how we treat all new users, that there's some secret ritual one must follow to earn points and, more importantly, get answers. That assumption is incorrect and I believe posts like this just add fuel to that fire.

2) Asking good questions is hard, no matter where you ask them

Asking good questions is not something that's unique to Stack Overflow. It's a skill that must be learned and there are numerous books and articles on the deceptively simple topic of asking good questions:

If people are struggling to ask good questions on Stack Overflow, it's not because Stack Overflow is a particularly difficult place to ask good questions, it's because the author doesn't know how to ask a good question in the first place.

In that sense, waiting to learn how to ask a good question until you need help with a serious problem is like waiting to learn Tae Bo until you're being mugged. Sure, a tip or two given in a hurry about providing a code sample or telling us what you've already tried is going to help a little bit, but it's not going to help much. Especially if you fall into the category described above: you're not a regex programmer, but you really need someone to do your work for you ASAP.