Expecting end to end "Apex Code" as an Answer

Question

I have been active here (on-off) since past 9 months now. Over the time, I see a lot of questions coming up that expect end to end apex code as an answer. I donot think writing apex code is a good response, if not a single line is tried out by the person who asked the query.

What is the best way to respond to such questions without 'hurting' the questioner's belief in the stackexchange community?

Answer 1

There will always be those who "just want an answer" and then there will be those who come here to learn. I believe in "teaching others how to fish". When we do that, we build community and create members who can give back. When we just give code, we do little for ourselves as a community. I tend to use boilerplate that varies somewhat either on my mood or on how the question is phrased.

Below are a few examples you're welcome to use or modify to suit your personal style:

1. Hi (username), welcome to SFSE! Please take the time to visit the [Help] and read [How do I ask a good question] (https://salesforce.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask). If you post what you've written so far and where you're stuck, I'm confident you'll find plenty of people willing to assist you.
2. Hi (username), welcome to SFSE! Your question is asking for other people to write code for you, without presenting a real question or issue. SFSE is a Q&A forum where we look to help each other by asking and answering questions that are real problems or errors. Posting requests to write code for you will get closed. If you post what you've written so far and where you're stuck, I'm confident you'll find plenty of people willing to assist you.
3. Hi (username), welcome to SFSE! Your question is asking for other people to write code for you, without presenting a real question or issue. SFSE is a Q&A forum where we look to help each other by asking and answering questions that are real problems or errors. Posting requests to write code for you will get closed. If you need assistance learning the Salesforce technical environment, I recommend you look at (name of workbook and/or API reference document) available from [Developer Documentation] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs). Note: I'll often provide links to specific resources here instead which increasingly includes Trailhead Modules which I think are great learning tools.

Finally, if users respond with "I just want to see examples" then I tell them to use a Salesforce specific search engine at [Find SFInfo] (http://findsf.info/) to search for code that I find very helpful for anything I'm looking for related to Salesforce.

Note: Remove the formatted code delimiters in the above snippets to get the Help links to appear correctly. Delete the space between [text] (hyperlink) to have them display as just the text. I edited the post for those who might wish to copy paste things so you wouldn't need to copy paste the link separately.

Here's a few others I find handy from time to time.

1. Welcome to SF.SE (username). Please take the time to visit the [Help] and take our [Tour] to better understand how this forum works, including [How do I ask a good question] (https://salesforce.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask). We want your experience here to be a positive one where you'll be able to receive the answers you need and contribute to the community if you choose to. Thank you.
2. When you post code, after pasting it into your post, please select it and click on the {} pre-formatted text icon so that it's legible to anyone who reads it. It's always a good practice to look at the preview pane of your post to fix any problems before posting it. Posts that are hard to read or understand are of little value as answers.
3. You'll find that people will be more willing to spend time helping you with these kinds of problems if you tell them which lines of code aren't covered by your test class (hint: knowing the line number isn't helpful since we can't tell the number when viewing it here, so mark you code sections).
4. Welcome to SF.SE (username). While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference, giving credit to the author. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. If you will, please update your answer with more information.

Also, for users who either thank me or thank someone else without marking the answer as solving their question, I'll often use one of the following:

1. You're welcome (username). Community etiquette is to help others by marking your question as solved through checking the answer that resolved your issue. If you don't, it leaves the impression to anyone who searches the topic later that your question wasn't answered to your satisfaction. Once you have sufficient reputation, you can also upvote posts and answers.
2. Glad you got it worked out. If this post led you to solving your issue, please help the rest of the community by marking it as having answered your question.
3. Thanks for posting on SFSE. Community etiquette is to upvote well thought out questions and answers if you have sufficient reputation. Please help the rest of the community by marking posts as solving your question if they helped you resolve your issue.

Some links to helpful resources I sometimes post in comments:

[Developer Documentation] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs?utf8=%E2%9C%93&select_subject%5B%5D=Force.com&select_type=&filter_text=&commit=FILTER+RESULTS)

[How do I start to debug my own Apex code?] (How do I start to debug my own Apex code?)

[Object Reference] (http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/object_reference/object_reference.pdf)

[Apex Code Developers Guide] (http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/apexcode/index.htm)

[Apex Workbook] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apex_workbook.meta/apex_workbook/apex_workbook.htm)

[Component Behavior When Rendered as PDF] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.pages.meta/pages/pages_output_pdf_component_behavior.htm) for more on components that are "Safe", ones to "Use with Caution", and "Unsafe Components" when rendering PDFs. (This is the new location for that info)

[Force.com Fundamentals] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.fundamentals.meta/fundamentals/)

[Force.com Workbook] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.workbook.meta/workbook/workshops_intro.htm)

[Getting Started with Communities] (https://help.salesforce.com/help/pdfs/en/salesforce_communities_implementation.pdf)

[Visualforce Workbook] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.workbook_vf.meta/workbook_vf/)

[Visualforce Developer’s Guide] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.pages.meta/pages/pages_intro.htm)

[Visualforce in Practice] (https://www.developerforce.com/guides/Visualforce_in_Practice.pdf)

[How do I start to debug my own VF javascript] (How do I start to debug my own Visualforce/JavaScript?)

[Salesforce1 Mobile App Admin Guide] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.salesforce1appadmin.meta/salesforce1appadmin/)

[Salesforce1 Mobile App Developer Guide] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.salesforce1.meta/salesforce1/)

[Salesforce1 Reporting Workbook] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.workbook_analytics.meta/workbook_analytics/)

[Report Formula Summary Functions] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.salesforce_report_summary_functions_cheatsheet.meta/salesforce_report_summary_functions_cheatsheet/)

[Getting Started with Salesforce1 Reporting] (https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.salesforce_analytics_overview_cheatsheet.meta/salesforce_analytics_overview_cheatsheet/)

[Trailhead Modules] (https://developer.salesforce.com/trailhead/modules)

Again, just remove the space between the title and the hyperlink for it to appear as a clickable link in comments or a post.