Coding is about learning from our mistakes. Sometimes we can google a solution. But at some point, we all will have to ask for specific help from others. I ask my local tech community for tips on asking for help. The following is their recommendations:

Tip #1

The first step is what to do before you ask for help. You want to make sure it's not an obvious answer.

1. Review variables and methods spelling.
2. Check the code's inputs and outputs.
3. Can you console.log() your way to before or after the issue.
4. Can you Google your issue, the error, or what you are trying to accomplish.

Tip #2

Give yourself 20 minutes to one hour of troubleshooting before seeking help. This may include taking a brief walk to clear your head before attacking the problem one last time.

Tip #3

You want to be respectful of other people time. Don't just say, "I need help" or "It don't work". Consider doing the following when sharing the problem with others:

1. Be able to articulate in writing or verbally the problem. Take the time to formulate your question to be specific and detailed.
2. State the conditions that created the problem
3. Describe the error or logic messages that is being generated.
4. Provide instructions on how to recreate the problem.
5. Share a screen shot of the issue.

Please help others learn by leaving a comment on tips for asking for help while learning to code" Thank You!!!

Code Connector Contributors:
JC Smiley, Timothy Sutton, Matt Adams, Lawrence Lockhart, Nathaniel Stokes, Dinesh Sharma, Jon David

Code Connector is a non-profit that organized tech meetups to help people start their journey into tech. You can join our daily conversations by clicking this link: Code Connector slack channel.

This blog post is now part of a free e-book called "Practical Advice for Breaking into Tech". The book summarizing advice from 700 developers about how to code or look for your first job in tech into an easy to read narrative.
Click for your free Download