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Course: Computer programming > Unit 1
Lesson 7: Becoming a community coderAsk for help
Programming on your own is fun, but sooner or later you’ll get stuck on a problem. Trust me, I've been coding for 20 years and still get stuck sometimes.
So what do you do when you can't find the answer after re-watching talk-throughs and reading through the documentation? After you've spent a while searching for answers in the usual places, that's a fine time to ask for help from your local friendly community: other Khan Academy coders!
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To make it easy for you to ask the community, every program has a "Request help" button on the lower left of the toolbar:
If your help request is hard to understand, though, the community might not have an answer for you. How can you help your helpers?
First, update your program to help the community understand the code:
- Add comments to your code to describe what the different parts of your program are meant to do.
// mouth:
fill(87, 24, 24);
ellipse(hopperX + 55, 272, 31, 30);
// glasses:
ellipse(hopperX + 29, 242, 30, 30);
ellipse(hopperX + 80, 242, 30, 30);
arc(hopperX + 55, 242, 20, 16, 180, 360);
- Make your code easier to read by using descriptive variable names and white space between parts of your code.
var hopperX = 280;
var mouthX = hopperX - 20;
image(getImage("creatures/Hopper-Happy"), hopperX, 205);
ellipse(mouthX, 272, 31, 30);
Then write a help request that the community will love answering:
- Start the request by describing the issue.
"I want Hopper's glasses to be transparent, so her eyes still show underneath them, but I don't want them completely transparent. How can I make the glasses look tinted?"
- Be specific, referring to code lines and their corresponding functions when you can.
"The fill command in line 7 does not affect the arc command in line 11. Why is that, and how can I fix it?”
The more effort you put into your help request, the more likely others will be willing to help!
When you do get a response, remember that the best answers are the ones which puts you on the right track, not the ones that do all the work for you.
And finally, as you learn more, don’t forget to check out the help requests to see if you can contribute on the answering side! Even if you don’t know how to solve the problem, you can always learn from the answers that others are giving.
🚸 If your account is a restricted under-13 child account, then you won't be able to submit or answer help requests.
Want to join the conversation?
- How can I remember syntax for several languages at once? I learned the basics of python a while ago, but now that I started using JS I find I'm struggling to remember the proper syntax for Python.(260 votes)
- All it takes is practice. Working with it enough, you should start to remember things even when you switch languages. I personally am comfortable working with several different computer languages simply through using each one.(248 votes)
- Are other programming sites similar to Khan academy?(79 votes)
- I'm sure there are, but Khan Academy is the best one I've come across - no other website I know of gives you step-by-step tutorials and lessons. :)(299 votes)
- What if the community doesn't respond back?(87 votes)
- Don't worry there are multiple people in this site... I'm sure someone will(85 votes)
- how long does it take for somebody to reply to ur help request??
-hope u have or had a nice day!!(44 votes)- It depends - all the help requests and questions are answered by unofficial volunteers who enjoy helping people work out their coding problems, so there's not really a specific time. Requests can get piled under others if they don't get answered. If you follow the advice on this article (being specific, clearly describing the issue, adding comments, referring to lines, etc.), then the chances that your request will be answered definitely increase.
Patience is your friend here, but if your request hasn't been answered in > 7 days, then it's probably gotten piled under the others. If you still need help at that time, you can delete your request on your program (you can only have one unanswered request per program at a time), and make another, keeping in mind the things you could do to increase the odds of your request getting answered.(71 votes)
- If i delete something in my code or make changes and then I regret it, can i roll back?(26 votes)
- Ctrl-Z can undo the latest changes.
I usually copy the code to my computer and save different versions of the project.
You can also spin off new versions.
Or you can copy and comment out blocks of code that you save below the actual working code.(63 votes)
- Sometimes my code disappears and idk how that happens, is there a way i can fix this because its really annoying.(19 votes)
- My suggestion would be to use an external code editor to save your work as you go. I use Visual Studio Code and a couple of others, but any type of code editor will work.
That way your code is saved on your computer. Programming directly in the web (online) is prone to have issues from time to time.
You would still have to copy/paste your code across all the time as you make updates, but at least you will still have a copy that you can use if something happens.(29 votes)
- Is there any place I can make a project freely, like make whatever I want?(16 votes)
- im stuck in the shooting star project, please help!(15 votes)
- Use the variable given in the code "xPos and yPos" and add a number to xPos and yPos. This will make the shooting star fly.(21 votes)
- How do I make the starry night. I went to getImage but did not see anything there?(11 votes)
- You could always just use a ton of ellipses. Beyond that, you have to select upload from computer when you insert an image. You also have to have previously downloaded the image you want.(18 votes)
- Hello
I wanted to know if we learn something new from a website and if we use the code but it is not completely copied will this be considered plagiarism?
Thank you.(8 votes)- If you're learning from a lesson or a course, it's generally okay. If you're learning a specific feature in a tutorial, you might want to give credit, especially if your code is similar.(17 votes)