Question your Questions

29 Jan 2026

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Asking a question the “smart” way

A question I found on StackOverflow that was asked the “smart” way, was this question, which was asked 16 years ago and is one of the most viewed questions on StackOverflow. The person asking the question wants to know what “use strict” does in JavaScript and what the reasoning behind it is. He includes that he had already searched the web for answers and found that it stops some errors from appearing, but he wasn’t sure why. He then finishes his post by asking why it is relevant and what the current use of “use strict” is. By asking this question in a “smart” way, he allows other members to understand what he wants to know, and the context behind it. He is clear that he lacks knowledge and has tried to figure it out by searching the web prior. Thus, he is able to get clear and relevant answers to his question.

Asking a not-so-smart question

Another question I found on StackOverflow that wasn’t asked in a very “smart” way was this question, which is kind of unclear about what the person is asking, but has something to do with using HTML, JavaScript, or CSS on a website. This person may not have been an English speaker, as they have a lot of grammatical errors. In addition, they are very unclear in what they are asking, and they don’t provide much context on their question. In this way, it makes it very hard for other users to answer his question, as they can’t even understand what the question is.

I’ve definitely asked some not-so-smart questions before, so I understand that it’s a natural thing to do. However, the purpose of asking a question is to get an answer or an understanding of something, which can be hard if your question is not asked in a “smart” way.

This essay was written without AI assistance.