Comment by nkrisc

Comment by nkrisc 2 days ago

3 replies

Sure, but it’s still silly.

“Hey, I’m having some trouble figuring this thing out, here’s where I’m confused: … <details about problem and questions>.

It’s absurd to expect someone to play 20 questions with you to figure out what your problem is.

bonoboTP 2 days ago

They probably need handholding to go through the issue and aren't good at putting into words explicitly what their issue is. Especially nontechnical and nonprogrammer people have problems around structuring and breaking down an issue into explicit parts, with a clearly formulated goal and required inputs and expected outputs etc. Most people's problem-solving relies on a collaborative thinking process where short sentences are exchanged and you rely on the other person actively steering as well, not like an empty chat box.

I don't tend to see this "hello" issue with people who are competent in programming or troubleshooting things themselves.

  • nkrisc 2 days ago

    > They probably need handholding to go through the issue and aren't good at putting into words explicitly what their issue is.

    I expect that from students and children, sure. But professionals?

    > Especially nontechnical and nonprogrammer people have problems around structuring and breaking down an issue into explicit parts, with a clearly formulated goal and required inputs and expected outputs etc.

    Ah, they were failed by their school system. I remember being taught to think this way in my math and writing classes as a child.

    • bonoboTP 2 days ago

      Some of this can be taught, some not.

      But anyway, my main point was, simply sending them a link like this will be perceived as baffling and rude, and I doubt that it can have a positive causal effect because it's not merely that they don't know about this rule of how to write messages, but that they require handholding. You can ask why they got hired then, but sometimes people can be confident and charming and that's often enough especially in non-programming interviews, or there might be also other reasons.