Using Stack Overflow and Other Stack Exchange Sites
This course explains how Stack Exchange sites work and how to structure your questions and answers so you get what you want from Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, or the over one hundred other sites in the network. Whether you need to solve an immediate problem, learn more about a technology, or establish yourself as an expert, knowing how the sites work is the key to getting what you want from them.
What you'll learn
For developers and administrators today, the first place to look when you're having trouble is one of the Stack Exchange sites: Stack Overflow for developers or Server Fault for administrators. There are dozens of more specialized sites too, for programming on specific platforms like Android or Raspberry Pi, for specific libraries and frameworks, or technical expertise areas like security or data. Unfortunately, many newcomers to the Stack Exchange family of sites don't get all they could from these sites because it's not obvious how they work. This course will show you what you need to know to find the answers you need for your urgent problems, build up an online reputation as a knowledgeable developer or administrator, and enjoy using this amazing resource to its fullest. It even covers how to get involved and help to run the sites you use regularly.
Table of contents
- Introduction 1m
- Course Overview 4m
- How StackExchange Works 3m
- Which Site 2m
- Choose a Site 2m
- Demo - Choose A Site 7m
- Interpreting Question Information 6m
- Interpreting Answer Information 4m
- What It All Means 2m
- Did You Solve Your Problem? 2m
- Searching 2m
- Demo - Searching 8m
- When Searching Fails 2m
- More Alternatives to Searching 2m
- Summary 3m
- Introduction 1m
- On Hold, Close, Reopen 3m
- Demo: On Hold, Close, Reopen 5m
- Closing as a Duplicate 6m
- Use Your Skills 2m
- Flagging, Flag Disposition 6m
- Demo: Flagging and Deleting 10m
- Moderators 3m
- Demo: Moderators 3m
- Per Site Meta 4m
- Demo: Per Site Meta 3m
- Meta 2m
- Area 51 4m
- Demo: Area 51 11m
- Summary 5m
About the author
Kate Gregory is in her fifth decade of being paid to program. Her firm, Gregory Consulting Limited, is based in rural Ontario and helps clients adopt new technologies and adjust to the changing business environment. Mentoring, technical writing, and technical speaking are her preferred ways of sharing wisdom with large groups of people. Kate is the author of over a dozen books and speaks at conferences around the world, with keynotes on 5 continents. Kate develops courses (primarily on C++) for ... more