Questions specific to stackoverflow.com should now be asked on meta.stackoverflow.com.
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71answers
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Should I be discouraged by Stack Overflow?
Let me start off by a little background. I am currently a 3rd year pursuing a BS in Computer Science at a small Christian school in San Diego. I have take a good chunk of the courses offered to me, ...
286
votes
7answers
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Stack Overflow is getting a place of its own
We've grown considerably as a network since the days of the original trilogy, when the prospect of growing into a network of over 100 thriving Q&A sites was a distant glimmer in a cloudy night ...
243
votes
76answers
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2014 SO Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection [closed]
In connection with the Stack Overflow moderator elections, we will be holding a Q&A with the candidates. This will be an opportunity for members of the community to pose questions to the ...
239
votes
19answers
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Stack Overflow technology makes me write bad answers
Today I had some time and felt like writing a relatively good answer on Stack Overflow; explaining both the underlying mechanisms and good practices, unlike usual declarative answers in a "do that" ...
205
votes
20answers
8k views
Mobile optimized version of Stack Overflow [duplicate]
I found this one on UserVoice, and I thought it was fitting to bring it up here for further discussion.
"Stack Overflow already works with Mobile Safari, but the experience is far from optimum.
...
190
votes
7answers
38k views
Is the Stack Overflow source code available?
Do the SO admins have any plans to release the underlying code for SO at all? I appreciate that the code may be part of their competitive advantage, but it strikes me that the underlying system would ...
170
votes
24answers
2k views
Age distribution of Stack Overflow users
Update: I decided to rerun the script since we now have about twice as many users. The distribution trend is much more pronounced in this version. Though the following text is from the original ...
158
votes
25answers
4k views
Huge close votes review queue on Stack Overflow [closed]
Today, the size of the close-votes queue is 55k questions and growing. Is that a problem?
Which action could be taken to clean it up? It seems to be growing faster than Stack Overflow members ...
156
votes
24answers
4k views
Close Votes review: I'm going on a strike! [closed]
I know this question is going to make me unpopular here – but I feel I have no other options.
I have been concerned by the size of the close votes review queue for quite a while.
When I ...
136
votes
12answers
18k views
Do I have to worry about copyright issues for code posted on Stack Overflow?
I was wondering about the copyright of code snippets from answers. Let's say you ask a question and the solution consists of ten lines of code, which are given in an answer. Are there any restrictions ...
132
votes
3answers
5k views
Is it OK to leave “What have you tried?” comments?
Some questions boil down to "how can/do I do X?" Here's an example.
Sometimes, people leave comments under such questions that ask "what have you tried?" Is it OK to leave comments like that? Should ...
123
votes
15answers
2k views
Eeeek! Why is Stack Overflow naked? [closed]
It just seems wrong. In my opinion it looks awful. Will it be like that from now on? :S
120
votes
65answers
8k views
Are there famous developers using Stack Overflow? [closed]
We know Jeff and Joel use Stack Overflow (obviously), but what other "famous" developers or at least working on popular projects, or important blogs do you know of that are using Stack Overflow?
...
119
votes
10answers
5k views
Can we now discourage the use of and burninate the homework tag? [closed]
I present to you the following indisputable (depending on your frame of reference) facts:
homework is a meta-tag. It describes the status from which the question is being asked, not the content of ...
118
votes
8answers
3k views
Close all the typo questions
Update 2013/03/06: I've been playing around in the Data Explorer (first time I've used it) and put together a basic query to help identify typo related posts a little better, improvements welcome:
...
118
votes
5answers
3k views
How to avoid “Hot Network Questions” on the sidebar
This may sound like a 'first world problem', but I am quite easily distracted by the 'Hot Network Questions' sidebar, as I find them quite amusing and some of them quite intellectual
But where the ...
116
votes
12answers
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“What have you tried” epidemic
Statistics
The usage of "what you tried" is growing (v2)
In Q1 of 2012 - 0.0134 such comments per question (~1.33%)
In Q2 of 2012 - 0.0167 such comments per question (~1.66%)
In Q3 of 2012 - 0.0169 ...
113
votes
12answers
3k views
Why do we let hostile users dictate the perception of Stack Overflow? [closed]
This question is a great example of why Stack Overflow is getting a reputation for being a hostile environment these days
Possible to convert C# get,set code to C++
This is clearly a developer ...
109
votes
16answers
16k views
Should I not answer my own questions? [duplicate]
I asked a question recently, looking for examples of an online tool. Per the FAQ, I answered my own question with a few examples that I had already found. I did this so that these examples would be ...
103
votes
10answers
3k views
Adding support for math notation [duplicate]
Every once in a while I miss having the option to write some LaTeX math on SO. E.g. when talking about automata. I'm certainly not the only one. And I think the person answering this question would ...
100
votes
8answers
2k views
What happened to the “You're Just Lazy” close vote reason? [closed]
...not literally, of course. But what happened to the previous menu of close-vote options?
I find the current set unsatisfactory. Take this question that boils down to a typical ...
98
votes
15answers
3k views
Dealing with “Find out who's going to buy the croissants” [closed]
On Stack Overflow at the moment, there is a popular question which is currently high in the Hot Questions feed: http://stackoverflow.com/q/17807531/42473
So far it has been closed twice (once by the ...
94
votes
14answers
10k views
Why “What Stack Overflow is Not” was deleted
I just deleted What Stack Overflow is Not, a collection of various explanations for things that Stack Overflow doesn't do, wasn't meant to do, or shouldn't be used to do. Several people put a fair bit ...
89
votes
7answers
2k views
Are code questions without an attempt now on topic
Background
The close reasons have recently been changed, this includes the removal of the old close reason:
Questions must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem
being solved. Tell ...
84
votes
18answers
326 views
Does my inability to answer questions reflect badly upon me?
I really enjoy browsing Stack Overflow. I've learned quite a few things just from perusing the questions. But, I have to admit, it's really bruising my confidence when I realize how much I don't know. ...
84
votes
23answers
3k views
What would you want to see in a Stack Overflow API?
Note: I'm aware of this question, but it's slightly different, and in my view is talking about the Stack Overflow folks coming up with an API themselves. I'm talking about a community-developed one, ...
81
votes
13answers
7k views
Are duplicates creating broken windows?
I think the Eternal September is dooming Stack Overflow to have the same questions asked over and over again, and the people who don't want questions closed are winning.
Why don't people want ...
80
votes
7answers
7k views
Is it okay to use Stack Overflow as the support forum for a product or project?
I recently saw a question about a problem (or possible bug) with subsonic on Stack Overflow. At first, I wanted to suggest that the asker post his question to the subsonic support forum.
When ...
79
votes
3answers
888 views
Add a hint to stay put after posting a question
The Problem
It happens on every second question I try to answer: The question is unclear but the user does not respond.
Why? The usual reason is that the user asking a question seems to leave. ...
77
votes
2answers
22k views
Stack Overflow returning HTTP error code 418 (I'm a teapot)?
First a little background:
I recently wrote a reverse proxy which I have found to work wonderfully so far, and being an avid Stack Overflow user, I thought I would try it out there.
I was ...
77
votes
5answers
886 views
auto-detect the phrase “it doesn't work” and ask user if enough info given
I get pretty peeved at questioners who say "it doesn't work" in their questions, without elaboration. Someone has to comment "It didn't work how? How do you know? What error message was given? What ...
77
votes
1answer
2k views
Anyone with a “visited: 2048 days, 2048 consecutive” in his/her profile?
Back in May, 27th 2009, the Stack Overflow team introduced a little counter to monitor the consecutive days you visited the site.
And 30 days later (June 26th 2009), the first "Enthusiast" badges were ...
76
votes
10answers
14k views
Help design our Stack Overflow t-shirts [closed]
In the spirit of How would you design a Stack Overflow T-Shirt?, Michael came up with these three mockups (in answers).
Please vote and comment, or — if you're feeling extra frisky — ...
76
votes
7answers
3k views
Repository of useful pro-forma comments
Every tag has its questions that make the same mistake(s) over and over and over again. (But some tags more than others.)
That's where Benjol's pro forma comments script comes in. The only downside ...
75
votes
29answers
5k views
At what point do you put your SO reputation in your resume? [closed]
While this is half tongue in cheek, this website and community may end up being the premier site that over half the world's programmers regularly attend - especially if Jeff and Joel create localized ...
75
votes
6answers
5k views
LOL debugging are we? - Stack Overflow homepage alerts false [closed]
Refreshing the Stack Overflow home page is giving me an alert('false');.
75
votes
1answer
2k views
Why are the moderators being so strict with quality related flags recently?
I recently flagged a question as 'very low quality' just like I've flagged many questions in the past. However, my flag was found to be unhelpful this time. The same thing happened when I recently ...
75
votes
3answers
701 views
Stack Overflow needz moar ads
This got me thinking...
Not about a contest though. I don't want people reviewing questions so that they'll get something in return; folks should be doing it because they care about the questions, ...
74
votes
2answers
2k views
Samsung agency is buying off Stack Overflow users
I was thinking anybody on Stack Overflow might be interested in the blog post Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users.
How can the Stack Overflow community defend itself from such spam ...
74
votes
11answers
1k views
Proposed contest for close review queue posse [closed]
Many hands make light work.
I propose that we offer a coveted Stack Exchange coffee mug to the top 25 people who work to clear the close queue in the next 45 days, and a USB rocket launcher to the ...
73
votes
3answers
5k views
What reputation do you need on Stack Overflow to receive an invite to Careers?
What reputation do you need to have on Stack Overflow to receive an invite to Careers?
The site says "Stack Overflow grants new invites to users fitting certain criteria of activity on Stack Exchange ...
72
votes
26answers
7k views
Top users on Stack Overflow: slackers or superstars?
Looking at the profiles of the users with the most reputation I started to wonder: are those people working besides asking and answering on Stack Overflow? Or are they the superstars Steve Yegge ...
70
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the best time to ask questions?
What's the best time of day, or weekday, to ask questions on Stack Overflow? I'd like to know if there might be a way to maximize the exposure or the amount/quality of responses.
At the very least, ...
70
votes
8answers
944 views
What happens to new users?
I've been looking at what happens when new users post their first questions on Stack Overflow... Not really done yet, but I figured I'd toss what I have up here in case anyone else has useful ...
69
votes
33answers
4k views
Help us redesign the Stack Overflow homepage
The homepage for all Stack Exchange sites is intentionally simple: it's a list of the last (n) questions by activity date.
Activity date means new questions, or questions with new answers or new ...
66
votes
32answers
2k views
Are power users creating a vacuum on SO? [closed]
The majority of questions are answered by say the top 200-500 users disproportionately more so as you get closer to Jon Skeet :). Now while the ratio of "askers" to "answerers" is expected to favour ...
66
votes
5answers
1k views
Firefox users - your Stack Overflow “reputation” microsummary! [closed]
Update: Microsummary support was removed from Firefox 6, so this no longer works...
I have created a Firefox microsummary generator for Stack Overflow.
It lets you create a bookmark in Firefox and ...
65
votes
11answers
5k views
What interesting stats can I obtain from the Stack Overflow data-dump?
What interesting statistics have you discovered from analysing the Stack Overflow data-dump?
Related:
Blog post announcing the data-dump
Direct link to the .torrent (original XML files) (2009-06)
...
65
votes
2answers
1k views
A user ragequit after bountying me all his rep, and I'm kind of creeped out by it
My aggressive tag editing has disturbed people before, but this is a new one.
Last week, a 1.5k rep user created a horribly generic tag name, so I nuked it. There was a brief back-and-forth in the ...
65
votes
1answer
5k views
Google indexing issue for keyword 'StackOverflow'
Maybe this is a temporary issue. I will check later in the night today and update/close this thread. [2013-02-27] For most of the world, this issue should now be resolved and non-repro, and the ...
