I'm going to try and keep this short, because a lot of it has already been discussed. If you are interested in the history, you can find it here on Programmers Meta, but here's a very brief recap:

1. Programmers started out life as "Not Programming Related." It was supposed to be a haven for all of those "soft" questions that Stack Overflow didn't want.

2. Stack Exchange decided to change the scope of the site, when it became apparent that the "Not Programming Related" concept was not working. But they waited a little too long.

3. We lost a high-rep user, largely because "people factors" are no longer considered on-topic. We lost a good mod, who was probably tired of fighting the good fight.

4. We've argued over the site scope ever since.

Programmers is a site for professional programmers who are interested in getting expert answers on conceptual questions about software development.

This is Programmers' site scope, taken directly from the FAQ:

• algorithm and data structure concepts
• design patterns
• developer testing
• development methodologies
• freelancing and business concerns
• quality assurance
• software architecture
• software engineering
• software licensing

That's it. Now tell me, how does a question like Where can I find a printed copy of the C++ specification fit within this framework?

I get the impression that the user community is asking themselves, "How can we make Programmers more friendly and more inclusive?" If that is the case, you're asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is

###How can I make this site more friendly to experts?

I am a moderator on Stack Overflow. What I have noticed is that people sometimes ask their conceptual programming questions on Stack Overflow instead of Programmers; when I ask why, they usually say "there are more people here to answer my question." What they really mean is, "the experts are here."

Why are you here? Is it to talk about one of the bullet points above? Or is it to help people find books? Is it to help people design, architect and test their programs, or is it to talk about why end users are so unreasonable? Do you really think the experts care why c languages use curly braces?

There's a balance between helping people get answers to their questions, and keeping the site an interesting place for experts. There's nothing wrong with helping someone out, but too many questions that are only interesting to one person, or only interesting to non-experts, will drive away the experts.

Without experts, there is no site.

I'm going to try and keep this short, because a lot of it has already been discussed. If you are interested in the history, you can find it here on Programmers Meta, but here's a very brief recap:

1. Programmers started out life as "Not Programming Related." It was supposed to be a haven for all of those "soft" questions that Stack Overflow didn't want.

2. Stack Exchange decided to change the scope of the site, when it became apparent that the "Not Programming Related" concept was not working. But they waited a little too long.

3. We lost a high-rep user, largely because "people factors" are no longer considered on-topic. We lost a good mod, who was probably tired of fighting the good fight.

4. We've argued over the site scope ever since.

Programmers is a site for professional programmers who are interested in getting expert answers on conceptual questions about software development.

This is Programmers' site scope, taken directly from the FAQ:

• algorithm and data structure concepts
• design patterns
• developer testing
• development methodologies
• freelancing and business concerns
• quality assurance
• software architecture
• software engineering
• software licensing

That's it. Now tell me, how does a question like Where can I find a printed copy of the C++ specification fit within this framework?

I get the impression that the user community is asking themselves, "How can we make Programmers more friendly and more inclusive?" If that is the case, you're asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is

How can I make this site more friendly to experts?

I am a moderator on Stack Overflow. What I have noticed is that people sometimes ask their conceptual programming questions on Stack Overflow instead of Programmers; when I ask why, they usually say "there are more people here to answer my question." What they really mean is, "the experts are here."

Why are you here? Is it to talk about one of the bullet points above? Or is it to help people find books? Is it to help people design, architect and test their programs, or is it to talk about why end users are so unreasonable? Do you really think the experts care why c languages use curly braces?

There's a balance between helping people get answers to their questions, and keeping the site an interesting place for experts. There's nothing wrong with helping someone out, but too many questions that are only interesting to one person, or only interesting to non-experts, will drive away the experts.

Without experts, there is no site.

I'm going to try and keep this short, because a lot of it has already been discussed. If you are interested in the history, you can find it here on Programmers Meta, but here's a very brief recap:

1. Programmers started out life as "Not Programming Related." It was supposed to be a haven for all of those "soft" questions that Stack Overflow didn't want.

2. Stack Exchange decided to change the scope of the site, when it became apparent that the "Not Programming Related" concept was not working. But they waited a little too long.

3. We lost a high-rep user, largely because "people factors" are no longer considered on-topic. We lost a good mod, who was probably tired of fighting the good fight.

4. We've argued over the site scope ever since.

Programmers is a site for professional programmers who are interested in getting expert answers on conceptual questions about software development.

This is Programmers' site scope, taken directly from the FAQ:

• algorithm and data structure concepts
• design patterns
• developer testing
• development methodologies
• freelancing and business concerns
• quality assurance
• software architecture
• software engineering
• software licensing

That's it. Now tell me, how does a question like Where can I find a printed copy of the C++ specification fit within this framework?

I get the impression that the user community is asking themselves, "How can we make Programmers more friendly and more inclusive?" If that is the case, you're asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is

###How can I make this site more friendly to experts?

I am a moderator on Stack Overflow. What I have noticed is that people sometimes ask their conceptual programming questions on Stack Overflow instead of Programmers; when I ask why, they usually say "there are more people here to answer my question." What they really mean is, "the experts are here."

Why are you here? Is it to talk about one of the bullet points above? Or is it to help people find books? Is it to help people design, architect and test their programs, or is it to talk about why end users are so unreasonable? Do you really think the experts care why c languages use curly braces?

There's a balance between helping people get answers to their questions, and keeping the site an interesting place for experts. There's nothing wrong with helping someone out, but too many questions that are only interesting to one person, or only interesting to non-experts, will drive away the experts.

Without experts, there is no site.

I'm going to try and keep this short, because a lot of it has already been discussed. If you are interested in the history, you can find it here on Programmers Meta, but here's a very brief recap:

1. Programmers started out life as "Not Programming Related." It was supposed to be a haven for all of those "soft" questions that Stack Overflow didn't want.

2. Stack Exchange decided to change the scope of the site, when it became apparent that the "Not Programming Related" concept was not working. But they waited a little too long.

3. We lost a high-rep user, largely because "people factors" are no longer considered on-topic. We lost a good mod, who was probably tired of fighting the good fight.

4. We've argued over the site scope ever since.

Programmers is a site for professional programmers who are interested in getting expert answers on conceptual questions about software development.

This is Programmers' site scope, taken directly from the FAQ:

• algorithm and data structure concepts
• design patterns
• developer testing
• development methodologies
• freelancing and business concerns
• quality assurance
• software architecture
• software engineering
• software licensing

That's it. Now tell me, how does a question like Where can I find a printed copy of the C++ specification fit within this framework?

I get the impression that the user community is asking themselves, "How can we make Programmers more friendly and more inclusive?" If that is the case, you're asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is

###How can I make this site more friendly to experts?

I am a moderator on Stack Overflow. What I have noticed is that people sometimes ask their conceptual programming questions on Stack Overflow instead of Programmers; when I ask why, they usually say "there are more people here to answer my question." What they really mean is, "the experts are here."

Why are you here? Is it to talk about one of the bullet points above? Or is it to help people find books? Is it to help people design, architect and test their programs, or is it to talk about why end users are so unreasonable? Do you really think the experts care why c languages use curly braces?

There's a balance between helping people get answers to their questions, and keeping the site an interesting place for experts. There's nothing wrong with helping someone out, but too many questions that are only interesting to one person, or only interesting to non-experts, will drive away the experts.

Without experts, there is no site.