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Comment by ravedave5 | Hacker News Reader

I had one developer who was VERY smart but would ask for help at the smallest problem. Usually I'd be able to help him fix it in 5 minutes, or he'd rubber duck it himself explaining to me. So what I did is he'd IM me if asking if I could stop by, I'd say sure let me finish this code I'll be over in 15. Five minute later I'd get an IM saying n/m I fixed it. I'd ask him about it later in the day so he didn't feel ignored. I think it worked out pretty well for both of us.

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My rule of thumb is:

If it’s a library or framework question, research on your own until quite stuck

If it’s a codebase question, ask immediately (in a relevant company public channel) and continue digging. If you get the answer first, answer your own question, improve docs.

Interesting, I never thought of it that way. Do you think this applies specifically for junior developers, or do you think junior developers are exempt from this (allowed to ask about anything)?

As someone who suffers from this problem, for me it's almost like the part of my mind that's supposed to organize thoughts is procrastinating. The stress of maybe/maybe not being able to solve a problem is removed when I finally ask for help. I cam then relax and it often solves itself.

That, or the act of forcing myself to organize my thoughts so I can explain it makes the solution clear.

I know a number of people, myself included, who task their loved ones with "helping" them code by as if asking a college. None of the loved ones in question have the least qualifications or interest in coding, yet they are all immensely helpful, and they get more time together, and feel valued.

Just explaining what the problem is out loud is very often all that is needed.

I do the same! I tell my wife she's a developer all the time due to the number of times shes helped me solve a problem outside her domain.

I've tried cutting out the middle man and just forcing myself to organize my thoughts but it's not nearly as effective without the social pressure.

Sounds like the company that would always delay starting work on an order until a certain amount of time went by, like a day or two. (I was something like custom furniture).

turns out there was a HUGE amount of churn for a day after an order was created with changes, and this saved a huge amount of headaches.

This can come down to a confidence problem. I have really helped solved this with junior members by going on vacation and leaving them the keys for a few days. When the ability to ask questions was taken away for a bit they tend to learn how much they can actually rely on themselves.

The same sort of behavior is on display with the one-essential-person who has gotten themselves at the center of everything in an opposite kind of way.

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