What does that mean? First, if possible, I'll answer the question (or request additional info so that the question can be answered). Along the way, I will try to point out relevant documentation that might assist the person who asked the question in digging deeper into the subject, and in seeing how and why the answer provided works. If I see a reason, I may also point out other issues in the OP's code that may not have come up in the question, but that are likely to either come up later, or that might simply be done in a way that is more in keeping with Perlish 'best practices'. And finally, if the question sparks an interest in me, I may even propose a couple other alternatives, or dig in deeper into a discussion on a particular aspect of the project the OP is working on.
Sometimes that means the person who asks a simple question gets a simple answer plus a heap of "Too much information." But here's why I often take that route: The person who is asking a question, and who only wants the concise answer and nothing more, probably isn't really concerned with learning Perl. His motivation may be to get a project done, turn the homework in, get a pre-made script working, etc., and then move on and never look at Perl again. But I'm not going to pre-judge the level of interest this person has for him. While reality may be that the person asking the question just sifts through what I have to say and plucks out a cut-n-paste answer, the hope is that this is someone, like myself, who has a desire to dig into the hows, whys, and what-ifs. And for that person, I am motivated to go the extra mile.
Take a salesperson. When a customer walks into a store, if the salesperson sizes him up and decides he can probably only afford the $50 DVD player, that salesperson has done himself and his customer a disservice if the customer, in fact, would be happier with, and can afford, the $300 DVD player.
If I size someone up who is asking a question and decide at the outset this is someone who isn't going to want anything beyond the most concise answer, I may be jipping that person out of an opportunity to learn, if in fact, that is his goal. Furthermore, I'm robbing myself of another opportunity to meditate on a subject, possibly learning something new myself in the process. And equally important, I may be robbing others the opportunity to learn something; for every inquisitor and respondant, there is an army of lurkers.
I have benefitted many times from those people in this community who have taken the approach of giving more information instead of less. If people just answered the damn question and moved on, this place would get boring, and I would have stopped learning here practically as quickly as I started. It is the deeper explorations, the other points of view, the "by the way, did you consider this?", and the "you may want to read xxxx" types of answers that make this place so interesting, so educational, and so alluring.
So if all someone wants is the quick answer, too bad. I don't care if someone is going to jump on me for showing how to use a symbolic reference, while at the same time explaining some of the ramifications. Because for every person who just wants the quick answer, there are (at least in my hopes) many who are glad to learn from the in-depth answers.
Dave
In reply to Re: Answering questions and questioning questions
by davido
in thread Answering questions and questioning questions
by talexb
| For: | Use: | ||
| & | & | ||
| < | < | ||
| > | > | ||
| [ | [ | ||
| ] | ] |