So You Need Help

You've finally decided to start writing an Android app and you get stuck... You just can't figure out how to make it work right.

Not to worry, there are many places you can go to for help.  You can find answers all over the web, and chances are pretty good you aren't the first to have the problem.

There are numerous forums, mailing lists, and other sites where you can ask specific questions and have a community of developers at your fingertips.  For Android development my favorites are stackoverflow.com and the Android Developer's Google Group.

Since there are so many resources available online, there are certain expectations of people who decide to ask a question... After all, the people answering the questions are usually doing this out of the kindness of their heart during their spare time.  If these expectations are not met, or if it appears from your question that they aren't met, you are more likely to get sarcastic answers or links to one of these classic sites (I know I've used them on more than one occasion):

• lmgtfy.com
• justfuckinggoogleit.com
• www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 The third link actually has a lot of very good information in it, and I would highly recommend that anyone who is going to ask for help at least skim over it before asking.

Ok, so back to the expectations....

Try To Figure It Out On Your Own

If you want to get help with your problem then this is a HUGE prerequisite.  Remember when I mentioned above that there are lots of online resources and you are likely not the first person to have your question?  Remember that I said most people answering your questions are doing this out of the kindness of their heart? During their spare time?

They don't want to spend their valuable time searching these online resources for you... 

First things first, start with a Google search... When I am wanting to find out something for Android I always make that the first word in my search.  So if I was having a problem with a ListView and wanted some help I might do a Google search for "android listview tutorial."  (See the results of that search here: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=android+listview+tutorial)

Read the documentation... Android has very good documentation.  It isn't perfect, but overall it is still very good.  There is lots of documentation for the different Android classes.  There is also a very good set of API guides and training to help you get started and understand most of what you need to about Android development.  Very often, you can find your answer from reading through the following links:

• https://developer.android.com/training/index.html
• https://developer.android.com/guide/components/index.html

Ask In An Appropriate Place

Would you ask a plumber how to change a light bulb? Or an electrician how to put up drywall?  If you ask your question in the wrong place then you are essentially doing just that.

If you ask a question about downloading or compiling the Android source code, or features for a specific phone, on a forum that is dedicated to developing apps using the SDK, you are most likely going to get ignored.  And you will come across as an idiot.  Enough said.

Write In Clear, Grammatical, Correctly-Spelled Language

For this section I'm just going to refer to this site's similarly named section: www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Here are some of the highlights:

• ...people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding (often enough to bet on, anyway). Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding; we'd rather spend our time elsewhere.
• So expressing your question clearly and well is important. If you can't be bothered to do that, we can't be bothered to pay attention. Spend the extra effort to polish your language. 
• Spell, punctuate, and capitalize correctly. Don't confuse “its” with “it's”, “loose” with “lose”, or “discrete” with “discreet”. 
• Don't TYPE IN ALL CAPS; this is read as shouting and considered rude.
• ...don't use instant-messaging shortcuts. Spelling "you" as "u" makes you look like a semi-literate boob to save two entire keystrokes
• If you are asking questions in a forum that does not use your native language, you will get a limited amount of slack for spelling and grammar errors — but no extra slack at all for laziness (and yes, we can usually spot that difference)

Be Specific And Keep It Simple

Pasting several hundred lines of code (or worse, attaching your entire project in a zip file) and stating that "it doesn't work" is not going to help you get the answers you need.  You are far more likely to get a response by posting a dozen lines of code and indicating exactly where the problem is occurring.

Try to find  a specific case for which you are experiencing the problem.  Explain what you have tried so far.  Let them know what you have learned from your experimentation.  Show that you have done your homework and are genuinely stuck and you will likely get a helpful response.

If it sounds like you are just looking for a code freebie, or if your first stop in trying to figure out the problem was to ask for help and you didn't do anything on your own, you are not going to get very far...