"How to build this?" How to ask better questions as a developer

I want to make a disclaimer for this post. I want to state that I am not against asking or answering questions. Asking questions is a great way to learn when building a project. However, most questions do not lead anywhere, which is not a good thing. What does that mean? The answer is to ask better questions.

"How to build this?"

To start this off, let's ask the most common questions. "How to build this?", "How do I build this?" This is very common and it's not good to ask.

Here are a few reasons:

• It's vague and does not tell me much.
• It's broad. There can be so many answers.
• No research has been done. If there is, then the question should be more specific.

It's a question most beginners have or have asked. I have asked this question before. I have gotten out of this situation and have learned to ask more descriptive questions.

Research and requirements gathering

The first step is researching what you are trying to build and gathering the requirements needed. Heck, you can use AI to automate the research process, but I would go in and double-check to confirm before I start writing the code. There are plenty of resources that will help you when researching.

This will help you get out of tutorial hell and learn how to build POCs (proof of concept). When I do a website, I need links, pages to display information, or web design template, and hosting. Is the site going to be self-hosted or on a hosting provider? Is it going to be a blog, e-commerce, or portfolio? Asking questions can help define the process before you start.

No such thing as dumb questions

There is no such thing as a dumb question. However, we all know Stack Overflow is infamous when someone asks a question whether it is a good or bad question they are made to feel stupid which creates a toxic environment. Leading people to turn to AI when asking questions. It's okay to ask for help, but I would not rely on vague questions if I wanted something specific.

I try to ask and answer questions to the best of my ability.