I know that often I get up here on my website pedestal and I preach to you, the singleton that’s actually visiting me on a biweekly basis about things that I like about web development. Maybe it’s things I use, maybe it’s things I seem interested in. At the end of the day, I get my learnin’ in, and you and I both feel better for having been a part of my reflection on it.

Now that I’m done sounding as if I’ve just been enlightened, I’d like to talk about Stack Overflow

In web development world, keeping up with the times is pretty much the name of the game. The technology changes so much! During the relatively short lifespans of web technologies (as better solutions are adopted) thousands and thousands of conversations are had about best practices, implementation strategies, and just plain theoretical speculation.

I love Stack Overflow. I honestly don’t think I would have solved some incredibly difficult (at the time) problems without the help of the programming community. Stack Overflow is a great place, it’s a place where you can ask questions about a coding problem you’re having, but it doesn’t stop there. you can talk theory, you can set up hypothetical programming scenarios and have yourselves a meaningful discussion about it.

It’s not even limited to programming, too! There are S.O. portals for fitness, languages, and there’s even a Stack Overflow about Stack Overflow itself (cue the obnoxious Inception “BWAHHHH”).

I guess what I really want to say is that I recently began contributing to the community at Stack Overflow. In my spare time I’ll often just peruse the questions that pertain to my profession. Even if I know the answer to something, a question always prompts me to think about a solution. Following that, I may be asked to refine my solution. The constraints that these questions introduce are as real as any project involving code personal, professional, or otherwise. They’re fun. They vary. I learn a little bit of something every time I attempt to answer a question. Sometimes I won’t even know the answer, but it sparks my curiosity to find out what the answer COULD be.

I’ve got to say that it’s incredibly helpful not only as a programmers resource, but there’s something to be said about being on the answering side of a question. Your answer could solve somebody’s headache! It’s truly wonderful that this site exists, because it brings the programming community closer together.

I strongly suggest making a Stack Overflow account, and see if you can answer any questions. If anything, it’s a good way to kill time and do a little bit of learning along the way.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go lurk on the ‘Wordpress’ tag