In order to get smart answers, you need to ask smart questions. This is especially true in problem solving in Software Engineering because not only are there so many different things to factor when developing an application, such as different technologies, languages, and approaches, but there are infinite amount of smart ways to solve every problem, and and an equal amount of dumb ways to solve a problem.
Why is processing a sorted array faster than processing an unsorted array?
In the linked StackOverflow Discussion, the user asks a simple question: “Why is processing a sorted array faster than processing an unsorted array?” However, what makes this a good question is the way that the user approached it. They had made an observation when writing some code and did not understand why it was the way it was. Instead of just asking the question, they provided many things that made it stand out
One specific thing I liked in their question was their closing questions, that circled back for clairification. They gave their thoughts on why this must be (giving more perspective on the issue for the discussion), and asked what is going on behind the scenes, and why is this specific case the way it is. You can tell that the user is looking to UNDERSTAND rather than just to get their problem solved. This effort and well-structured question was well-recieved by the community with 1.9 million views and 27,172 upvotes.
How to send 100,000 emails weekly?
Here we have an example of a question that is on the other side of the spectrum compared to the above post. This post is heavily downvoted with -142 votes, and it is quite apparent why when reading it. The user is asking what the best approach is for sending email in php to 100,000 users weekly. Thats it. They try to go more in depth with what kind of email services that their clients are using, however, that is not the relevant information that is needed. There are many things wrong with this question in terms of the way it was asked, and the outcome. The question itself could have been googled, looking for a mail transporter for php and each of their benefits. The user is using StackOverflow more as a search engine rather than as a discussion. They could have also included more information about their specific technological needs and what would be included in the content of the emails. The audience is unable to determine what specific outcome that the user wants from their solution, whether its in speed, performance, or relability. It is easy to see why it is so heavily downvoted.