Hello friends!
Welcome to this week’s Sloth Bytes (late edition).
🦥 No selling out today
I am genuinely considering selling feet pics, so if you work at a company with a marketing budget please forward this to your boss immediately or the feet come out.
Baby sloths are born with everything
Baby sloths are born with their eyes open, their claws sharp, and their teeth fully formed. They don’t really have a development period.
The Art of Asking Better Programming Questions
One day you’ll have to ask a question about programming, and when that day happens you’re going to waste time because you don’t know how to ask it.
Let me save you the embarrassment and help you create better questions.
You can also use these when asking AI questions.
The XY Problem: What Not To Do
❌ "How do I detect if a user has stopped typing?"
✅ "I'm implementing a search that should only call the API when the user finishes typing. This is my current code: "
Always explain your end goal - you might be solving the wrong problem!
The Perfect Question Formula
Context First
❌"My code isn't working. Help!"
✅"I'm building a Python web scraper that needs to handle pagination. Currently using BeautifulSoup. The first page works, but it breaks on page 2. Here's my code: … "
Show Your Work
❌"I can't get my sorting to work. What's the best way to sort?"
✅ "I'm trying to sort a list of dates, here’s what I’ve tried:
dates = ['2024-01-01', '2023-12-31']
sorted_dates = sorted(dates)It’s not working as expected:
#Expected
['2023-12-31', '2024-01-01']
#Actual
['2024-01-01', '2023-12-31']Include Error Messages
❌ "I'm getting some weird error about None or null or something"
✅ I’m getting the following error
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable at line 23: data['users']Where to Ask Questions
Stack Overflow
Tag properly
Use code formatting
Include minimal reproducible example
GitHub Issues
Search closed issues first
Follow issue templates
Include package versions
Discord/Slack
Use code blocks
Right channel/thread
Be patient
ChatGPT of course
Question Checklist
Did you search for existing answers?
Did you Include environment details?
Did you Add relevant code?
Did you described expected vs actual?
Did you format properly?
Did you proofread for clarity?
Red Flags in Your Question
❌ "Can anyone help?"
❌ "URGENT!!!"
❌ "It's not working"
❌ "Here's 300 lines of code"
❌ "Fix this for me"
Writing Good Question Titles
❌ "JavaScript help needed"
❌ "URGENT: Code not working!!!"
✅ "TypeError when accessing nested JSON in Express middleware"
Real-World Examples
Before:
Help! Code not working! var x = [1,2,3] need to make bigger
After:
I need to append elements to array in JavaScript I have an array:
const x = [1,2,3]
// I tried
x.add(4)
//But I keep getting this error
// x.add is not a function
//Expected output: x should now be [1,2,3,4]Environment: JavaScript (Node v16)
Additional tips
Screenshot errors if they're visual
Recreate the error
Update your question with solutions you've tried
Answer your own question if you solve it!
Remember
Every great developer started as a beginner
Clear questions save everyone's time
Good questions build your reputation
Teaching others reinforces your knowledge
If you want to keep learning
Get better at programming without writing more code — improve by reading code, reviewing decisions, and explaining concepts out loud.
Debugging techniques — gather the context, reproduce the problem, and isolate it before asking someone else to save you.
How to write good code comments — practice explaining the why behind code clearly and concisely.
How to contribute to open source — put those communication skills to work in issues, pull requests, and real codebases.
Thank you to everyone who submitted 😃
RelyingEarth87, Viidka, JamesHarryT, pyGuy152, sonvalle, agentNinjaK, dropbearII, ravener, GiantMango, pavan-15-hub, and last one:
Invert Colors
Create a function that inverts the rgb values of a given list
Examples
color_invert([255, 255, 255])
output = [0, 0, 0]
# [255, 255, 255] is the color white.
# The opposite is [0, 0, 0], which is black.
color_invert([0, 0, 0])
output = [255, 255, 255]
color_invert([165, 170, 221]
output = [90, 85, 34]Notes
Must return a list.
255 is the max value of a single color channel.
How To Submit Answers
Reply with
A link to your solution (github, twitter, personal blog, portfolio, replit, etc)
or if you’re on the web version leave a comment!
That’s all from me!
Have a great week, be safe, make good choices, and have fun coding.
If I made a mistake or you have any questions, feel free to comment below or reply to the email!
See you all next week.
