Re: Is there a tutorial/sample for displaying...
Re: Is there a tutorial/sample for displaying...
- Subject: Re: Is there a tutorial/sample for displaying...
- From: dave dowling <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 18:34:44 -0400
On Wednesday, May 15, 2002, at 05:55 PM, Nicholas Riley wrote:
Sure, but wouldn't you get tired of answering the same questions week
after week?
no. on lists where i know the topic well, i do one of the following:
1. let someone else answer. there's often someone who just
learned what's being asked and is dying to share, or would be
helped by explaining what they've just learned.
2. if no one answers within a day or two, i answer it.
3. if i don't want to explain it all again, i answer it like
this: good question! we were just talking about that last week.
the thread was called "how to do that thing". you can search the
archives and get the whole story.
4. if i were just too sick and tired of answering the same
question, i'd erase the message rather than jump the person.
It's basic etiquette to search a list for answers to your
question.
it's also basic etiquette to be kind to people. we can encourage
those who don't know what we know and make them productive members
of the list, or we can be unkind to them and make them go away.
I often perform Web searches with the exact words in the posted
question.
if you'd like to help the person, you could say:
do such and such a search at developer.apple.com to find what you need.
i typed that in fewer than 5 seconds.
if you're just too annoyed to be helpful (or if you're a *really*
slow typist), hit the delete button, or use filters.
I don't know whether this would help, but there are about 10
resources I use
when I don't have the answer to a Mac programming problem, and if we
just sent those 10 URLs to every new subscriber of this list, perhaps
it'd help some people and cut down on redundant list traffic. Also,
it's so much better to hear questions phrased as "I wanted to do X,
and I tried Y and Z, but they gave me these results instead of the
desired ones" rather than "how do you do X?" Half the time, when I'm
about to post to the mailing list, I start to write my question that
way, develop a small test case, and discover my problem in the process.
these are excellent suggestions. i've emailed the admin on this
list in the past, and he's a nice and helpful guy. maybe you could
suggest these things to him. perhaps he'd agree to send an email
to new subscribers outlining where to look for basic info, and how
to solve one's own problems before approaching the list. that
might cut down on the super-basic questions.
i have to say in closing that Obj-C is a very complicated and
daunting challenge for a programming newbie. for you guys who have
been at it a long time, this stuff, even where to look for answers,
is really basic. not so for the guy who's just starting out. i
know, because i'm that guy. until Apple opens an advanced Cocoa
room (which you also might suggest), we're all jumbled together on
this list. new people are going to come in all the time, asking
the same old questions. at that time, the veterans have to decide
what to do about it: ignore, blast, or assist.
thanks.
dave dowling
free at last! how i found peace with God:
http://www.davedowling.com/steps.html
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