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Zohar Peled
Zohar Peled

Posted on

Differences between Dev and Stackoverflow.

Wait, wait, I know what you're thinking - This is comparing apples to oranges - but bare with me for a minute.

In Dev, we get to write articles - in Stackoverflow, we write questions and answers.

In Dev, we have hearts and unicorns - in Stackoverflow we have down votes.

In Dev, discussion is encouraged - in Stackoverflow, comments aren't for discussion. You'll get banished to the chat.

In Dev, we can write (almost) anything we want - in Stackoverflow, your post gets closed as off topic and deleted.

In Dev, human interaction is encouraged - in Stackoverflow, words like "Thanks" and "Good day" in your post are considered as noise.

In Dev, the community is all about the developers - in Stackoverflow, we are only here for the questions and answers.

In Dev, every person is considered equal - in Stackoverflow, We're keeping score.

In Dev, we're here to write, read, communicate and share ideas - in Stackoverflow, we're here to solve problems.

This post was inspired by a sketch of one of my personal all times favorites comedians - George Carlin. I know I'm not half as funny as he was, but I hope I did make you smile.

Top comments (8)

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

In Dev, we have hearts and unicorns - in Stackoverflow we have down votes.

SO has upvotes and comments and so on. Missing them off this comparison is disingenuous.

In Dev, every person is considered equal - in Stackoverflow, We're keeping score.

Oh, people keep score on Dev, too. (dev.to?) don't you worry about that. It's just that it's kept low-key enough that it doesn't interfere with the way the community works. Posts get moderated, people get banned, people sink or rise based on votes that are affected by such vagaries as time of day or number of followers. It's just not shoved in your face. And so far, it's working out alright.

What's different about SO, is that a lot of people are going to arrive there from a Google search, read the answers and leave, without voting or caring who's who. To that end, everybody is equal. And because their moderation is strict (by comparison), there are usually only a few, relevant answers rather than a long meandering thread. It's exactly what programmers want when they want the answer to something.

On Dev, people arrive because of a tweet or someone's blog post recommendation and end up staying for the banter. It's exactly what programmers want when they want everything else.

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peledzohar profile image
Zohar Peled

I think you might have missed the point that it's suppose to be a humorous comparison rather then a real feature-to-feature list. Of course, each of these websites and communities have their own pros and cons, that wasn't the point.

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I got that it was humour - that was in the tag - but it was mostly just a comparison.

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peledzohar profile image
Zohar Peled

IDK, you seemed to have taken this too seriously in your first comment... to be honest, reading my post again, I think it's only funny if you know the original sketch and can picture old George say it out loud (at least, that's what I had in mind when writing this). Lucky I've added that link...

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bayuangora profile image
Bayu Angora

That's why I feel more enjoy here. By the way, I like George Carlin too. The most brilliant comedian ever.

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sunitk profile image
Sunit Katkar • Edited

Oh I love George Carlin. Well, some stackoverflow folks are very rude, condescending and consider it their fiefdom. I like it here. Thanks for the post.

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tarifa10 profile image
tarifa-man

I like it here. Thanks for the post.

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Anjan Kant

Yes Zohar, Dev allows us very much rather than stackoverflow (it's like a rolled bundle).