Questions tagged [faq]

These questions are the most frequently asked and answered questions on Meta.

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3 votes
1 answer
331 views

Why can't I ask customer service-related questions here?

I have questions about how I go about using various tools or products. Can I ask these questions here? If not, why? Where can I ask them?
23 votes
1 answer
1k views

I have a question, but it may not fit best on Software Engineering. Where else can I ask it?

What other Stack Exchange sites are there that may be able to answer my questions about software engineering or software development?
Thomas Owens's user avatar
  • 80.4k
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why are implementation and debugging questions off-topic on Software Engineering?

Questions that are asking for debugging ("help me find this error") or implementation ("how do I write...") have tended to be closed and down voted. Why is this? And where should I ask these ...
user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
1k views

When is a software licensing question on topic?

I would like to ask a question about software licensing. The help center says: If you have a question about... ... software licensing and it is not about... ... legal advice or aid It seems like ...
durron597's user avatar
  • 7,600
20 votes
1 answer
1k views

Where does my tool question go?

I have a question about tools. According to the on-topic page, tool questions are off-topic on Software Engineering Stack Exchange. Is there a site for me to go to ask specific tool questions?
125 votes
3 answers
11k views

What goes on Software Engineering (previously known as Programmers)? A guide for Stack Overflow

Moderator Note: Programmers changed its name recently to Software Engineering. This post has been updated to reflect the new scope, but it still refers to Programmers for historical reasons. Wherever ...
user avatar
43 votes
3 answers
1k views

Where can I have subjective discussions about programming?

I entered Softwareengineering Stack Exchange and unfortunately, it wasn't what I was looking for. I expected you would be able to talk about all kinds of programming, but the rules are much stricter ...
user avatar
48 votes
3 answers
6k views

On the troubles of naming and terminology

Difficulty with naming has a bit of a history with programming. There are two hard problems in computer science: caching, naming, and off by one errors. It has been repeatedly revisited on meta ...
user avatar
46 votes
11 answers
22k views

Why was my question closed or down voted?

Help! My question was closed (or down voted). Why? And what can I do about it? Downvoted Duplicate Off topic What technology to take up next Recommend a software library, tool, book, research paper,...
1104 votes
13 answers
55k views

Open letter to students with homework problems

It is September once again (today is the 8755th day of September), and once again students are asking their homework problems on Stack Overflow and SoftwareEngineering.SE. We start seeing questions ...
user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
263 views

A guide to moderating programmers.stackexchange yourself - close voting

One thing that keeps coming up is the number of questions that are closed solely by moderator action on this site. We've already been over some of the issues, but I'm going to take this opportunity to ...
ChrisF's user avatar
  • 38.9k
15 votes
2 answers
390 views

Are software law questions off-topic here?

Most of the answers to legal questions here are prefixed with "I'm not a lawyer, but..." I'm beginning to think that including "software law" as on-topic is way too broad, and opens the door to ...
Thomas Owens's user avatar
  • 80.4k
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Are book recommendations on-topic?

We get a lot of book recommendation questions, so much so that it's hard to keep up with them. We've been closing them as off-topic, not a real question, and not constructive based on a few different ...
user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
713 views

Are "I'm looking for X" questions on topic?

The question Is there something else like SquareSpace out there? (10k link) reminded me that there is nothing explicit in our FAQ about shopping recommendation questions. The question starts out with: ...
Adam Lear's user avatar
  • 32k
13 votes
4 answers
645 views

Why is "what language should I learn" considered off-topic?

Don't get me wrong: I understand the argument that the answer in almost all cases is "it depends". Nevertheless, many people do want some advice on the applicability of various languages in the real ...
Cameron Skinner's user avatar
24 votes
1 answer
1k views

How do I get started with Programmers.SE?

What do I need to know to get the most out of this site?