Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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djj SSCoach Points: 18831 More actions · Answer 1

Found this from Paul S. Randal of SQLskills.com:

"Here's the rule: if my 14-yr old smart daughter could find the answer on Google from your question, you'd shouldn't ask or send in email."

He even came up with guidelines for asking a question:

"• State your problem as unambiguously as possible.

• State what research you’ve done before asking the question (this show’s you’ve done due diligence). You could even say what you searched for on Google/Bing.

• State the SQL Server version/SP/CU/build you’re using.

• State what you’ve done to try to alleviate your problem so far, if anything.

• Ideally, include all Transact-SQL code to reproduce the phenomena (or, at least the details of the schema, indexes, query, query plan etc.) – just use your best judgment and include these as an annotated/commented script.

• Include whatever results are pertinent.

• Try to anticipate what people would ask to get more information, and provide answers in your question.

• Say please and thank you.

• Don’t demand urgent or immediate help – you’re not entitled to anything."

Information from the SQLskills Insiders newsletter.

SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281324 More actions · Answer 2

djj (8/4/2014)

Found this from Paul S. Randal of SQLskills.com:

"Here's the rule: if my 14-yr old smart daughter could find the answer on Google from your question, you'd shouldn't ask or send in email."

He even came up with guidelines for asking a question:

"• State your problem as unambiguously as possible.

• State what research you’ve done before asking the question (this show’s you’ve done due diligence). You could even say what you searched for on Google/Bing.

• State the SQL Server version/SP/CU/build you’re using.

• State what you’ve done to try to alleviate your problem so far, if anything.

• Ideally, include all Transact-SQL code to reproduce the phenomena (or, at least the details of the schema, indexes, query, query plan etc.) – just use your best judgment and include these as an annotated/commented script.

• Include whatever results are pertinent.

• Try to anticipate what people would ask to get more information, and provide answers in your question.

• Say please and thank you.

• Don’t demand urgent or immediate help – you’re not entitled to anything."

Information from the SQLskills Insiders newsletter.

ding ding ding +1

Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events

Ed Wagner SSC Guru Points: 287015 More actions · Answer 3

SQLRNNR (8/4/2014)

djj (8/4/2014)

Found this from Paul S. Randal of SQLskills.com:

"Here's the rule: if my 14-yr old smart daughter could find the answer on Google from your question, you'd shouldn't ask or send in email."

He even came up with guidelines for asking a question:

"• State your problem as unambiguously as possible.

• State what research you’ve done before asking the question (this show’s you’ve done due diligence). You could even say what you searched for on Google/Bing.

• State the SQL Server version/SP/CU/build you’re using.

• State what you’ve done to try to alleviate your problem so far, if anything.

• Ideally, include all Transact-SQL code to reproduce the phenomena (or, at least the details of the schema, indexes, query, query plan etc.) – just use your best judgment and include these as an annotated/commented script.

• Include whatever results are pertinent.

• Try to anticipate what people would ask to get more information, and provide answers in your question.

• Say please and thank you.

• Don’t demand urgent or immediate help – you’re not entitled to anything."

Information from the SQLskills Insiders newsletter.

ding ding ding +1

Agreed, but when we post something like the last bullet point or a link to lmgtfy.com, people get indignant, put-off and argumentative. There are plenty of posts where I opt not to respond because I've seen the entitlement mentality or the lack of a coherent question. I'm not trying to be a snob or elitist, just trying to keep my stress and frustration levels down to normal. I do like the list, though.

Tally Tables - Performance Personified
String Splitting with True Performance
Best practices on how to ask questions

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442447 More actions · Answer 4

Lynn Pettis

SSC Guru

Points: 442447

August 4, 2014 at 1:15 pm

#1734931

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259015 More actions · Answer 5

Koen Verbeeck

SSC Guru

Points: 259015

August 4, 2014 at 1:22 pm

#1734934

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

I am afraid I have left it in my other coat...

Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Eirikur Eiriksson SSC Guru Points: 182631 More actions · Answer 6

Koen Verbeeck (8/4/2014)

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

I am afraid I have left it in my other coat...

I'm relying on the ESP network as the GMCB has gone AWOL once again, reception's no good though. Wonder if someone could launch some intel gathering pork chops (the number is depending on the chops data capacity)l.

😎

Ed Wagner SSC Guru Points: 287015 More actions · Answer 7

Eirikur Eiriksson (8/4/2014)

Koen Verbeeck (8/4/2014)

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

I am afraid I have left it in my other coat...

I'm relying on the ESP network as the GMCB has gone AWOL once again, reception's no good though. Wonder if someone could launch some intel gathering pork chops (the number is depending on the chops data capacity)l.

😎

Koen, does that mean you got it back from the shop after you cracked it? If so, send it this way when you have a moment.

Tally Tables - Performance Personified
String Splitting with True Performance
Best practices on how to ask questions

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004494 More actions · Answer 8

If the questions have worn you out, may I suggest a couple of maths limericks?

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=93785

A dozen, a gross and a score

plus three time the square root of four

divided by seven

plus five times eleven

is nine squared and not a bit more

and just as good from the comments

The integral sec y dy

From zero to one-sixth of pi

Is the log to base e

Of the square root of three

Times the sixty fourth power of i.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 9

GilaMonster (8/4/2014)

If the questions have worn you out, may I suggest a couple of maths limericks?

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=93785

A dozen, a gross and a score

plus three time the square root of four

divided by seven

plus five times eleven

is nine squared and not a bit more

and just as good from the comments

The integral sec y dy

From zero to one-sixth of pi

Is the log to base e

Of the square root of three

Times the sixty fourth power of i.

Why not a SQL joke?

A query walks into a bar, sees two tables, and says: "May I join you?"

😛

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1000539 More actions · Answer 10

Alvin Ramard (8/4/2014)

GilaMonster (8/4/2014)

If the questions have worn you out, may I suggest a couple of maths limericks?

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=93785

A dozen, a gross and a score

plus three time the square root of four

divided by seven

plus five times eleven

is nine squared and not a bit more

and just as good from the comments

The integral sec y dy

From zero to one-sixth of pi

Is the log to base e

Of the square root of three

Times the sixty fourth power of i.

Why not a SQL joke?

A query walks into a bar, sees two tables, and says: "May I join you?"

😛

Or, how about a poem more like the questions?

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

Some poems rhyme,

But this one don't.

😛

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
"Change is inevitable... change for the better is not".

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
Intro to Tally Tables and Functions

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1000539 More actions · Answer 11

Eirikur Eiriksson (8/4/2014)

Koen Verbeeck (8/4/2014)

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

I am afraid I have left it in my other coat...

I'm relying on the ESP network as the GMCB has gone AWOL once again, reception's no good though. Wonder if someone could launch some intel gathering pork chops (the number is depending on the chops data capacity)l.

😎

Those would be the patented boomerang pork chops. How'd you know about those?

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
"Change is inevitable... change for the better is not".

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
Intro to Tally Tables and Functions

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1000539 More actions · Answer 12

Koen Verbeeck (8/4/2014)

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Whom ever has the Great Mystical Crystal Ball, you are needed here.

I am afraid I have left it in my other coat...

I'd let you borrow mine... but it's a prosthetic. 😛

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
"Change is inevitable... change for the better is not".

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
Intro to Tally Tables and Functions

Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 13

Jeff Moden (8/4/2014)

Alvin Ramard (8/4/2014)

GilaMonster (8/4/2014)

If the questions have worn you out, may I suggest a couple of maths limericks?

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=93785

A dozen, a gross and a score

plus three time the square root of four

divided by seven

plus five times eleven

is nine squared and not a bit more

and just as good from the comments

The integral sec y dy

From zero to one-sixth of pi

Is the log to base e

Of the square root of three

Times the sixty fourth power of i.

Why not a SQL joke?

A query walks into a bar, sees two tables, and says: "May I join you?"

😛

Or, how about a poem more like the questions?

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

Some poems rhyme,

But this one don't.

😛

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

Just ask SQLServerCentral,

For what you should do.

😎

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442447 More actions · Answer 14

Lynn Pettis

SSC Guru

Points: 442447

August 4, 2014 at 6:53 pm

#1734973

Don't you just love people that ask for help but tell you it can't be a certain way, especially when the way the say it can't be done is the easiest to accomplish?

SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281324 More actions · Answer 15

Lynn Pettis (8/4/2014)

Don't you just love people that ask for help but tell you it can't be a certain way, especially when the way the say it can't be done is the easiest to accomplish?

Of course, why make it easy? It has to be made to be extremely difficult so it will take longer to implement, be harder to support, harder to maintain and can be boasted about more to help guarantee your job longer.:-D

Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events