I'm in the top 0.34% for rep gain this year and I can attest that what feels like a lecture is actually the review process in action. The people commenting aren't just randomly finding your question and deciding to scold you. Every user has their first question subjected to scrutiny. Quite often we initially have no idea what you're all talking about but, after several rounds of review and revision, maybe somebody who does will see your (now well formatted) question and answer it. Sometimes this isn't a quick process. You may have to wait until someone with the same problem and more determination figures it out and shares their solution. The goal of the site is to be a canonical resource for knowledge, not a magic mirror able to instantly produce an answer to any question.
It's expected that you have heavily researched your issue before asking a question. Quite often, there is already an answer available. Closing your question is the expected outcome in this case. It's not meant as a punishment, but rather prevents fragmenting of the knowledge on the subject. Your question remains in the system but links back to the existing thread so the answers all stay together.
There are definitely some reviewers who are bit heavy handed with the downvotes, but I personally only do so when it's really appropriate. Like if a user with several thousand rep does something obviously noobish. They should know better and I don't feel bad for them. I cut new users a little slack though, if your question needs improvement I'll try and polish it up a bit. If I can answer it, I will. But unless your question has not been asked before and shows real effort to solve it yourself, you're not getting an upvote from me.
The site is completely self moderated. Every reviewer has their own agenda. Some do it for rep, some do it just to be helpful, others are tasked by their employer to monitor certain tags. Whatever the motivation, we all have our own stuff to do. And all the legwork solving your problem isn't it. Sometimes answering your own question is the only thing to do. You could save someone hours of trouble and gain yourself some rep in the process or at least have a quick reference for the future. And if you can't come up with a solution, then maybe your research will help the next poor soul who stumbles into your predicament.
If you're just learning to be a developer then Stack Overflow isn't going to be gentle mentor. There is tons of knowledge there but nobody will hold your hand and lead you to it. If you're lucky you'll get shoved in the right direction.
If you're a professional dev and are expecting someone to sort out your mess for you, then you better offer a bounty. Either that or hire a contractor to get the job done right.
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I'm in the top 0.34% for rep gain this year and I can attest that what feels like a lecture is actually the review process in action. The people commenting aren't just randomly finding your question and deciding to scold you. Every user has their first question subjected to scrutiny. Quite often we initially have no idea what you're all talking about but, after several rounds of review and revision, maybe somebody who does will see your (now well formatted) question and answer it. Sometimes this isn't a quick process. You may have to wait until someone with the same problem and more determination figures it out and shares their solution. The goal of the site is to be a canonical resource for knowledge, not a magic mirror able to instantly produce an answer to any question.
It's expected that you have heavily researched your issue before asking a question. Quite often, there is already an answer available. Closing your question is the expected outcome in this case. It's not meant as a punishment, but rather prevents fragmenting of the knowledge on the subject. Your question remains in the system but links back to the existing thread so the answers all stay together.
There are definitely some reviewers who are bit heavy handed with the downvotes, but I personally only do so when it's really appropriate. Like if a user with several thousand rep does something obviously noobish. They should know better and I don't feel bad for them. I cut new users a little slack though, if your question needs improvement I'll try and polish it up a bit. If I can answer it, I will. But unless your question has not been asked before and shows real effort to solve it yourself, you're not getting an upvote from me.
The site is completely self moderated. Every reviewer has their own agenda. Some do it for rep, some do it just to be helpful, others are tasked by their employer to monitor certain tags. Whatever the motivation, we all have our own stuff to do. And all the legwork solving your problem isn't it. Sometimes answering your own question is the only thing to do. You could save someone hours of trouble and gain yourself some rep in the process or at least have a quick reference for the future. And if you can't come up with a solution, then maybe your research will help the next poor soul who stumbles into your predicament.
If you're just learning to be a developer then Stack Overflow isn't going to be gentle mentor. There is tons of knowledge there but nobody will hold your hand and lead you to it. If you're lucky you'll get shoved in the right direction.
If you're a professional dev and are expecting someone to sort out your mess for you, then you better offer a bounty. Either that or hire a contractor to get the job done right.