RTFM - Read This Freaking Manifesto

Available Translations: pt-BR (Submit yours via PR)

It's time people realize that the more effort they put into questions they ask, the better and faster responses they'll get.

It's time we stop enabling people who are too lazy to have some basic common sense when asking questions.

Whenever you see someone ignoring the following rules, post a link to this Manifesto (or the appropriate translation).

Here's what you should know about posting questions related to development/programming:

• Before posting:

  • RTFM: Search the documentation of the [language|component|library|etc..];
    1. Write your question first in a text editor, like notepad, Vim, etc;
    2. Remove all prepositions (eg: at, in, on, from, etc) and all pronouns from the text;
    3. With the words left, extract those that are more relevant to describe your problem;
    4. Sort those keywords and use them to do your research;
    • Original text: I am getting the AAA error when doing BBB on CCC
    • Research text: CCC error AAA BBB
  • Search the [list|forum|channel|etc...] for similar questions before asking yours;
  • No off-topic questions;
    • Unless explicitly allowed and if so, check for special rules for those;
  • No homework questions;
    • Do your own assignments;
  • Never put unformatted code on your question;
    • No matter how small or simple. Use Gist or a Pastebin service;
  • Make sure your code is syntatically correct;
    • Use a linter or try to run it at least once;
  • Avoid asking questions that are too broad;
    • Like "How do I make a Facebook clone?";
  • Avoid asking questions like "Which [language|framework|Operating System|etc...] is the best";
    • In the vast majority of cases there's no clear/right answer for questions like these;

• While posting:

  • Phrase your question objectively, but include as many details as possible.
  • Be clear and write your question with the right use of the spoken language you're writing with.
  • Don't be rude;

• After posting:

  • Be patient: No one has the duty to answer your question (Really, just like that);
    • People are not being mean to you;
    • They are not ignoring you;
    • They may not know the answer;
  • No begging;
    • You're not the boss of anyone;
    • Whining won't help;
    • Taunting or being rude won't help either;
    • Remember: People on [lists|forums|channels|etc...] don't work for you;
  • No "bumping" your question;
    • Read above;
  • Don't argue with an answer without good reason for doing so;
    • "I don't like this answer" is not a valid point;