jueyang/call-me-maybe

Use the issue queue. Dark secrets welcome. (CUNY-J teaching 2015)

Congrats! You've made it to this repository

Now, to post your question, click on the Issues on the right, then click New issue to open one.

🌵💛🐒 emojis are optional.

Some sample questions to get you started

• I have project X. I want to add this feature. How can I do it?
• I just interviewed 10 people. So excited to put it together! But I don't know what to use and I don't have much time before the deadline*. What do I do now?
• Why am I using GitHub?
• Do you like ice cubes?
• Also, check out questions others have asked.

Let's do this.

Be specific when it comes to coding questions

Specificity is your friend when you are trying to find out why a certain piece of code doesn't work.

Here's an excellent article on how to ask programming-related questions, by Sisi Wei from Propublica. Pay particular attention to how you frame your question. It shows that you've worked through your problem, rather than dumping the workload to another person, thus losing a premium learning opportunity for yourself:

When asking your question, be specific. This means your post should include:

• The tools you’re using, including version numbers and your operating system version.
• What you’re trying to accomplish – what did you expect to happen if everything had worked?
• The code you’re using (or just the relevant parts)
• Any error messages you got
• What you’ve tried already, and what happened

*When you have a deadline

So you have a deadline and want your answer right here right now?

Well, first, avoid last-minute question as much as possible. I would be more productive in helping you if you give me time to understand where you are and where your project actually is. But if you absolutely have to create a last-minute urgency, be specific about the following:

• how much you know and how much you have done
• the time you have until the deadline
• what you think you will need, or if you'd like me to help you assess the situation

We could still brainstorm something. Just:

Help me help you.

Use markdown to format your text

If you already know markdown, format the text in your issues to your heart's content. Otherwise, you should learn it. Consult the Markdown supported document (which you can also find on top of the text window when you open a new issue.)

Learn to say things like I really want to emphasize this, I really want to bolden that, or lists:

• hello
• hi
• aloha

If you structure your thoughts with markdown (and/or including an image like the one above) I'll play a song for you when you come by. Pick the theme song of your choice, seriously.

Personal matter?

If you have a truly personal matter, such as a discussion on the philosophy of life, leave me an email in the issue. I'll get back to you by inviting you to a Slack room where we can chat one-on-one.