ExcelForum.com vs StackOverflow.com

I was at dinner last night with two past programmers at Microsoft. I said I answer questions at ExcelForum.com. They asked what was the difference between it and StackOverflow.com.

I told them that there were a lot more questions being posted on ExcelForum (not knowing if it was true or not) and we allow files to be attached while StackOverflow does not.

They asked if we have the "Like" (thumbs up) feature so the best answers would filter to the top, and I said no.

Do you have any major differences between us and them? I'd like to give a better answer next time.

Because these were programmers, they were using StackOverflow to find the best code method to solve a problem. It was like different code was submitted to solve a problem and then up voted if others liked it. This way you could search and see what code had the most votes.

I think this is what they were suggesting.

Stack Overflow requires those posting questions and those giving answers do a MUCH better job than we require here. We like to have good titles and like our little code tags used, but there the Q must usually demonstrate notable effort and understanding in the original question, clear evidence the OP is working themselves on the issue. We have no such requirement here, and we pay the price for it at times.

In terms of answers, people can then "vote" on each and every answer given. The one with the highest score rises to the top of the individual thread. All answers remain, just like here, it's just easier to find the best one because it rises on its own.

Even the question gets voted on.

All answers can be commented on as well, as can the question.

It's a much more professional environment. I get why people use it. I have had some questions I needed answered in the past that were served well by their environment.


We already know the benefits of using the ExcelForum, benefits that would possibly be meaningless to power users in a development environment.

I think it is difficult to compare both sites. Stack Overflow (SF) has a wider audience. You can ask and find an answer on any topic on technology (IT related topics). Excel forum is just excel, probably office applications. SL was set up in 2008 and has over 4 million visitors, while EF has barely reaches double figures.

The most talent, experienced and skilled IT professionals could be found on SF. SF has been my first source of information regarding any topic on programming and the site comes top on Google search.
The rules on SF are very draconian than EF. There is no attachment. You could easily being banned for repeatedly asking irrelevant topics or subjects. What thread is acceptable is very subjective. Some of the members are plain rude. People could easily vote you down and remove your thread. The site has also being criticised for not encouraging women.

Stack Overflow is primarily for coders so for formula based queries it's sometimes tough going.

Theoretically formula based queries should be asked at Superuser ( a part of the Stack Exchange community) but, of course, many of the askers don't know that (or don't know whether they want or need a VBA solution or a worksheet function or something else).

That makes things hard work sometimes. Some questions get moved to Superuser, although complex formulas are recognised by some as a type of "code".

Overall I think it's a good site for many things but if you have a basic excel question (especially if it's formula based) you're more likely to get a better answer here or at some of the other explicitly Excel forums

But it's pretty easy to search this site

I have found a lot of the best answers to my Excel problems from a google search which ended up in a post somewhere in StackOverflow.com. My questions tended to be at a fairly advanced theoretical Excel / VBA level and not always a specific “get this code to work please” or “give me a code to do this please” type of problem. I get the feeling these last two types of question would not go down at all well at StackOverflow.com: Like Jerry said: there the Q must usually demonstrate notable effort and understanding in the original question, clear evidence the OP is working themselves on the issue. We have no such requirement here, and we pay the price for it at times.
_.___________

The last couple of months I was on a bit of a “Excel Forum Crawl” ( Like a Pub Crawl ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_crawl ) but longer, visiting most Forums and Blog sites having anything to do with Excel , and answering or commenting on some moderately advanced things. It had the same effect on my brain as few Beers sometimes, Lol... )........

Originally Posted by xladept

But it's pretty easy to search this site

...I agree with that, ExcelForum and similar organised sites are easy to search: On my “Crawl”, I got the jist of navigating around most Forums and Blog sites. StackOverflow.com was the exception. I don’t know why , but I just can’t navigate around, or understand the structure at StackOverflow.com.
It lacks for me, ( or I may be I just have not found it ), a clear overview page like
https://www.excelforum.com/
http://www.eileenslounge.com/index.p...78ff2250241e45
https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/forum.php
http://www.excelfox.com/forum/forum.php
etc..

Whenever I posted at StackOverflow.com, I usually got told off for posting wrongly, or after posting I totally lost where I had posted, and could find any post list. I ended up having to navigate through my user posts. For some reason my password was frequently not recognised and I ended up having to re register each time.

Since the recent improvements, the ExcelForum format feels very comfortable. ( It seems some members are drifting back )
But like most things, I guess it is a case largely of what you get used to.
_._____________________

Originally Posted by AB33

.... has been my first source of information regarding any topic on programming and the site comes top on Google search. ....

I can agree with that: Certainly on a google search for an answer, StackOverflow.com has often come up tops for me.

Alan

StackOverflow makes me grin as I consider it like a the old "hidden" night-club. Simply FINDing the club proved you were worthy of entering the club.... something circular like that. I'm babbling....

The site has also being criticised for not encouraging women.

Yesterday (08 March - International Women's Day 2017) was a good time to reflect on how far we have come, but also on how far there is still to go before we reach true parity in the workplace and, perhaps unsurprisingly, in environments such as this. EF is a very male-dominated environment, but luckily does not seem to mind there being a few women here, but on some forums, the mere idea that a woman would be interested in things like Excel and VBA, let alone capable of becoming a power user, is anathema. This testosterone-fuelled nonsense can easily take a hold if it goes unchallenged. As a young teacher back in the early nineties, by which time you'd have thought things might have been better, I found myself working on a male-dominated staff in what was essentially a boys' school with anachronistic tendencies. The likelihood of being either bullied, patronised or sexually harassed by male colleagues was high (all three happened to me at some point or another), so you had to grow a set of balls very quickly yourself to cope. It wasn't right, but in a perverse sort of way I am glad I had the experience of it: nothing makes you stronger than surviving and then thriving in adversity. Sadly some female colleagues did not fare so well and were hounded out. The male bastions are fewer these days, but there will be pockets of it here and there. Whether SO is one of them, I can't say: I have never noticed any anti-female behaviour there, but I have certainly witnessed gross rudeness and ridicule, so I rarely dip into it.

Happy Women's Day to Ali and all ladies of this forum. Yesterday this holiday celebrated 100 years!

Thanks, Alex.

I found out by chance , outside the forums, that some long term Members are Female. Their forum name and Avatar, Profile etc. gives no indication thereof.
In Forum post it is often an unfortunate habit that OPs refer to the helper as Sir, Brother, and similar. I rarely notice that the Female helper comments on that.
I would not reveal which of these members are female, in case they are deliberately wishing not to make that known.

Originally Posted by AlKey

Happy Women's Day to Ali and all ladies of this forum. Yesterday this holiday celebrated 100 years!

... Maybe in honour of the occasion, some of our “hidden” female members might find it an appropriate time for “outing” ??

( _... wandering off topic.. never mind it is the Water Cooler... )


( Edit: I am not female myself, but my wife is )

Originally Posted by Doc.AElstein

... Maybe in honour of the occasion, some of our “hidden” female members might find it an appropriate time for “outing” ??

OK, Doc you got me

I've been posing as a daddylonglegs all these years when I am in fact a mummylonglegs

Originally Posted by daddylonglegs

I've been posing as a daddylonglegs all these years when I am in fact a mummylonglegs

That's.....just.....fabulous.


In my house, every day is Mommy Day. I'm her biggest fan, and harass her daily with accolades.

Originally Posted by daddylonglegs

OK, Doc you got me

I've been posing as a daddylonglegs all these years when I am in fact a mummylonglegs

Should we expect the name change any time soon to something like ladylongleggs?

Hey Marvin :-)
Check out the stackoverflow Facts / info etc. ( if you can ever navigate and find that – I did a while back by chance, but after an hour of trying to find / navigate to it just now again I gave up !!! **** EDIT . see end : - found it and addede it later.. )

At stackoverflow:
_ Short quick answers.
_ As far as I can make out, no obvious structure , _.....
_.......- no organised Sub Forums list to browse through _.. ...
_.. ... Just a jumbled up list of mixed up subjects
_ Discouragement of anything that might lead to a discussion, or further the understanding _.. ....
_.. .... No interest in finding out why = no interest in learning
_.. Chat is banned / punished, so is any discussion.

_ No one ( is allowed ) to take the time to explain fully answers
_ No long informative Tips and Tutorials ( Or maybe there is but impossible to find or navigate to )
_ Seems no one keen to ( or allowed to ) share their great knowledge and wealth of experience.
_ No well informed Guys encouraging us to try out important stuff like Power Query

Originally Posted by AB33

..
The rules on SF are very draconian than EF. ...not encouraging women.

_ No Women ( or at least not many there we know about ! ), ....._ ..
_... No ( Water Cooler _ ) Fun, No Community, No CHAT !!

_._______________________-

Originally Posted by MarvinP

They asked if we have the "Like" (thumbs up) feature so the best answers would filter to the top, and I said no. ..

I would say a Rep is better than a Like or quick Thumbs up. – You have the chance to add a quick qualifying message, remark , comment, ( question with it. ). ( Although I have nothing against a quick like button ), but filtering to the top in my opinion like Zbor said is a bit naff, in my opinion -, “if there is a discussion it should be in time order.” - but they (Stackoverflow) don’t want any discussions!!



In short, ... stackoverflow is confusingly diverse while at the same time restrictive .. ???

Originally Posted by MsLonglegs

Stack Overflow is primarily for coders.... formula based queries it's sometimes tough going. ...

Originally Posted by JBeaucaire

.. .the benefits of using the ExcelForum, benefits that would possibly be meaningless to power users.

Originally Posted by AB33

... The most talent, experienced and skilled IT professionals could be found on SF. ... the site comes top on Google search. .

Stackoverflow, in my opinion, is OK for a quick Google search for programmers. I am not sure I would want to “be” there, or “go” to the stackoverflow site ( What I mean is that I would rather get direct to a post there via Google )

This is the place to “be”, and I am pretty glad people like you ,Marvin, are here

Originally Posted by MarvinP

.... StackOverflow is for programmers trying to find better code.?

Stackoverflow is for programmers looking for a quick answer... Stackoverflow is something that pops up on a Google search for a quick bit of help on a code , and for that it is very good !!
But important : Do it like this: with Google( Only works with Google search thingy )

site:stackoverflow.com VBA Range Item Property

or

site:stackoverflow.com What you want

etc.... - and By The way this is the best way to search here:

site:excelforum.com Bollox

or https://www.excelforum.com/tips-and-...ed-search.html

_._____________________________


This Thread , which is very informative, interesting, helpful , revealing, (and fun ), would have been banned at Stackoverflow and we ( all the contributors to the Thread ) would have been banned !!! ( and probably the Women would have been burnt alive ! [:Joke:-):] )

Alan


_.________________________



****Edit: I found the stackoverflow Facts bit again by accident: ( it is one of those things you only find when you are not looking for it )
http://stackoverflow.com/tour
http://stackoverflow.com/help
( I seem to have been awarded a “Badge” at SF, ... I have not got the slightest idea for what and from who or whatever.. - I only was there once, with that name ?? )






Edit a few days later...

I just started at Stack overflow.... I got this. “...Please avoid extended discussions in comments. Would you like to automatically move this discussion to chat? ...”... Hi Hi
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4...98339#42998339

On another forum I used to frequent, there were two long-time male members who posed as female. It's up to the individual: if people wish to remain incognito, for whatever reason, that's absolutely fine and their prerogative. But, as you say, Alan, we have veered way off topic now.

Yikes, what have I started.? Doc already started calling me "mslonglegs" in another thread.

For the avoidance of doubt....that was a joke (probably a bad one). We really need [Joke] tags for this purpose......

I guess our main difference is we allow files to be attached. I think StackOverflow is for programmers trying to find better code.?

I guess we're beginning to bug Daddy!

Call in the Cavalry is the Special thing in EF whereas SF needs bounty points to be attached to get the focus of all members.

The Excel tag on SO is not too bad, but get into some of the dedicated programming languages and you will have your head bitten off with-in roughly 5 mins if someone does not like what you are doing. Don't get me wrong , there are some great programmers there and the advice is invaluable, but it is a literal mine field.

What is the difference, people don't mind solving a problem here by giving them the literal answer, on SO a lot of the time you are just given a point in the right direction with some sample code and you have to fill in the gaps. I don't mind that at all, it would just be nice if people were a bit nicer while you are there.

Originally Posted by JapanDave

will have your head bitten off with-in roughly 5 mins if someone does not like what you are doing. ...it would just be nice if people were a bit nicer while you are there.

I am not lazy, and try very hard before asking, and in preparing a question. But yes, I got my head bitten off the first few time there...

The other side of the coin:

Originally Posted by JBeaucaire

....there the Q must usually demonstrate notable effort and understanding in the original question, clear evidence the OP is working themselves on the issue. We have no such requirement here, and we pay the price for it at times.......

..check this out:
https://www.excelforum.com/the-water...ml#post4603712
https://www.excelforum.com/excel-for...ml#post4603185

Originally Posted by Kyle123

Most of the people who dislike it seem to dislike the concept more than anything, it isn't a forum, it's not for discussion, it's a question and answer site (though I'm not saying that people aren't rude). Both forums and Q&A sites are useful, it's not one or the other.

In my case it is the condescending attitude some people show who they think are beneath them.

Originally Posted by Kyle123

The rules in place are there to support the purpose of a Q&A site, effort is required as well as a distillation of the problem to a form so that people can actually answer it - I have found numerous times when preparing a question for SO, the act of distillation itself has resolved the issue and I'd much rather resolve it myself than have someone else do it - I understand it then.
SO strives to be the best place to get answers to specific problems, as such anyone can moderate, improve other peoples questions and answers to make them better for everyone - questions aren't just randomly closed (though it may feel like that sometimes), rather members vote to close poor questions. The rules, whilst they may feel draconian, are there t support this aim. They don't like duplicates since all the good answers should be in one place, they don't like simple links as answers since external resources can go offline and the list goes on.

I also have many times spent nearly an hour trying to formulate a good question and found the solution as I was formulating it, in that respect I can appreciate the reasons why the rules are there.
However, it is not the rules that are the problem, it is those who enforce, not everyone is moderator material and able to part an unbiased decision or action. But, with SO, anyone with enough rep can be the judge ,jury and executioner.

Still, it is the goto site for programming and I I use it almost daily.

Like now I am trying to create an application with MVVM ,with TreeView. I have pretty much got it now, but it has taken me a good two weeks to get this far with it. Who ever made TreeView read only should be shot. And it has taken me over two months just to get the basics down with MVVM. But once it clicks, you wonder why it was so hard in the beginning...

Originally Posted by Kyle123

....I have found numerous times when preparing a question for SO, the act of distillation itself has resolved the issue and I'd much rather resolve it myself than have someone else do it - I understand it then..

That is a very good point, in my opinion:
_ I find exactly the same thing here at ExcelForum. ( I answer about 99% of my questions that way !!! – I have a massive Word doco of prepared questions which I never posted as I answered the question myself. Sometimes I can convert it into a tip / Tutorial post.. or similar Blog.. thingy ..
_ But - As Jerry said, we pay for not being so strict as some people will inevitably be lazy and just try their luck with a quick badly prepared question....

_.____________

We all seem to be saying that Stack Overflow it is a good place to get a quick answer: I have not tried the Stack overflow search that Kyle suggested yet. But the_..

site:stackoverflow.com WhatIWant

_.. is really good. Just today I answered a Forum and Blog Post question straight away with that.


_.__________________

It is a bit of a shame we cannot be a bit more strict on a good question preparation. I saw an interesting idea recently at another Forum: Moderators can move poorly prepared questions to a sort of “Trash” Sub Forum. Helpers can still answer the Thread, but it helps filter out the crap in the Main Forums. - That way the helpers can choose not to be annoyed by the poorly presented questions, by not looking at the Trash Folder.


We do something similar: A Moderator might say sometimes the a Thread should not be replied to until the OP takes some action. In my opinion the Trash Folder is better, - that way some people can answer if they find it easy to, for example if they co incidentally recognise just what the OP wants and they have the solution. Otherwise it can frustrate a helper, waiting for the “ban to be lifted “

_.________________________________


We seem to be concluding that Stack overflow is the place for the professional programmers to “go”. That is to say, it seems only professional programmers are likely to be in a position to post there successfully.
But , In my opinion, I do not think it is a “Thinking man’s” Forum.
I am not sure if there is a thinking man’s Forum ..
It seems you have to hit lucky in a Thread, to find someone who both can give a good answer and Know what he is talking about, or can, or is prepared to take the time to explain what they know in a way that anyone else can understand..
But I do not want to offend any Professionals / Experts. As I am not one, I probably would not recognise one .. ...


Alan

P.s.

Originally Posted by Kyle123

..., there is chat, they have chat rooms for topics and members can create them. ....

I saw that ( http://chat.stackoverflow.com/ ) But I found it just as totally un navigatable as everything else there - , randomly chucked together with no structure that I could make out.
When I search, for example, VBA Chat, I get this:
SOVBAChatSearch.JPG http://imgur.com/lm4yS9x
???
If I click bottom right on VBA Chat I get this
VBAChat.JPG http://imgur.com/Otlsrb4
???

Somehow I landed at a VBA Lounge, I have no idea how. But once again I just see what looks like some random set of communications, or part of a mixed up Post list
RandomVBAChat.JPG http://imgur.com/YZIaHRY
??? :confused: __ :a-laberyrinthzs-ed: __ :stackoverflowed-I-is:

Yeah, been real busy of late as I can imagine you are too. Yeah, not everyone is like that, but the minority usually ruins it for the rest. It is worst when people don't know a lot of the technical jargon. Still the best programming Q & A site out there.

Fact check: Chat is not banned at Stackoverflow, but it is not welcome in questions, since it detracts from the issue on hand. There are numerous chat rooms for regular visitors and members with a minimum rep can open an ad-hoc chat and invite any other member at any time.

StackOverflow is not a forum. It's a question-and-answer site. It does take a while to get used to the culture.

Originally Posted by teylyn

.. StackOverflow....can take a while to get used to the culture.

.That plays a major role, as in anything us Humans get used to something and find it sometimes difficult initially to get the hang of something a bit different
_......

Originally Posted by teylyn

Chat is not banned at Stackoverflow, but it is not welcome in questions, since it detracts from the issue on hand. There are numerous chat rooms for regular visitors...

The chat room http://chat.stackoverflow.com/ has been mentioned a few times in this Thread... I suppose it is a bit of a question of what is chat... The chat room there is a collection of Icons , you click on one like VBA Lounge http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/111528/vba-lounge and there seems to be some endless ramblings between a two or a small number of people. It is almost impossible to see what they are chatting about.. so it is more like listening in on someone’s private conservations..
As text storage is so cheap, I find it a shame to discourage discussions around the Topic / question of a Thread. Often only through that does the most useful and full solution come out. I would agree that it can give the impression of distracting from the issue, or clouding the final best solution.
I think a couple of things can help offset that problem
_ - I think it is helpful that someone asking and getting a good final solution could for ( both there benefit and for others catching the Thread looking for the same solution ) , do a final post giving a concise and at the same time detailed Summary of the solution.
There might be occasions for removing with hindsight a post or two if they really detract or mislead or go really way off course. But generally I would personally be strongly against deleting any of the discussions along the way: _..
____.. There may be some odd points made worth catching on a second read.
____.. Although we all freely share our knowledge, it is never the less courteous to be able to see the people who contributed to the final solution.
_ What can also help is a well designed software... At stack overflow you are shown the first few comments ( which can be added rather than a full reply to a Thread ) and you can click to show more. That can help a bit to keep the final Thread more readable.
StackOverflowComments.JPG http://imgur.com/dJAaT2q

_ Forums like Excel Forum have a back to front habit of, on the one hand:
_ eating spaces between words when you would like them
and then on the other hand
_ adding lots of empty space ... Take a typical post with a bit of text, and maybe a quote or two,_.. -
ExcelForumWhiteSpace http://imgur.com/nrXny5c
_..there is a lot of space to be scrolled through that could be done away with , ( Or maybe that is being saved for advertisements? ) .. Adding the possibility to add comments in smaller compressible / hideable text would be a great improvement in my opinion.

Another thing is that images seem a bit big at ExcelForum.., another Forum that uses the same Software ( and I think a version with virtually no custom modifications ) , shows the image small in the main Post, but gets much bigger when you click on it. That is a nice touch I think
ExcelFoxSmallImage.JPG http://imgur.com/iNK7si3
ClickToExpandImage.JPG http://imgur.com/d8gX7SD


Finally a code Window which mimics the VB Editor code window is my favourite thing to have available in a Post. Most of us will agree that using code tags for code is a must for helping to keep a Thread tidy , but furthermore spaces are not eaten as required for nice indented code, and those scroll bars are great in my opinion allowing for a long code ( Or table !! ) to be included without making the Post very deep, and the horizontal one can , as in a code, allow for including lots of useful info, such as URL Links, and other imported information needed for reference that one might not necessarily want to see each time, or when reviewing the Thread at first glance.


At the end of the day for both Formats, and Rules .... you get used to them , try to encourage what you think are positive improvements...encourage others to follow the Rules that are in everyone’s interest... then / or in an ideal world that never is get together with some mates and make the perfect forum where all good people Excel together forever happily ever after and all bad people get pooed on until they get better ....



_.....
Anyway, I’m going off course again.. lol... so .. back to the main theme of this Water Cooler ..”..relaxed off-topic discussions..chat Sub Forum ”... Thread, https://www.excelforum.com/the-water...ml#post4601615 https://www.excelforum.com/the-water...ml#post4601623 any more Woman out there that we don’t know about?

' 10   ' A Code Window, which mimics the VB Editor Code Window, is very useful in a Forum Post. It helps to keep the Post looking tidy. I am a fan of scroll bars, which, as in an actual code, allow useful notes which may not always be needed or wanted to be seen, but which can be a useful source of reference later. For example, I prefer to do a poo whilst out jogging. I personally think this is something worth encouraging, but no need to offend anyone by making it too public: My reasoning is (i) I do not like to sh_t in my house and make my toilet stinky and dirty. (ii) I routinely have a thorough shower after jogging so have the opportunity to thoroughly and easily clean my bottom , (ii)b)  - I save on Toilet paper as well - I am not too bothered that my jogging clothes are a bit stinky - I jog very hard anyway, so they would in any event at every jog become very smelly anyway. Some people think I am mad ( Doctors, Psychiatrists, Experts in the field of Mental Health) .-  But they just don't see things as I do. 
Sub Indents()
20       If codes are indented, Then
30        It can really help keep track of what is going on
40       Else
50        you can easily loose track of necessary pairing of an If and an
60       End If ' I usually have a single tab offset for every start of such a section, and then "go back" a tab after the End of that section
70 '
80   Dim ing things
90   ' or
100  Rem ing things I usually put at the most left
110   A code line usually starts by me 1 space to the right of the margin or 1 space to the right of the Tab offset of a section in my code.
End Sub ' I like using code lines too. Most people do not. But for them I share my codes which will put in OR take out code lines. I improve it all the time. I have got so far that GoTo sections with GoTo a number are also recognised by my code and corrected appropriately. Here a Thread on code lines:  https://www.excelforum.com/the-water-cooler/1122191-who-uses-line-numbers-in-their-code.html     Here my latest codes    https://www.excelforum.com/the-water-cooler/1122191-who-uses-line-numbers-in-their-code-5.html#post4525389

'_-_________________________


Rem. Although not specifically designed for this purpose, a code Window can be used to

'1 Add text where you need more that one space between characters (Most Forum Editors "eat" all but one space in between text)
         Column A   Column B
Row 1     cellA1     cellB1
Row 2     cellA2     cellB2

'2 Big tables can be kept more tidy by having them inside Code tags.     https://www.excelforum.com/development-testing-forum/1161667-messin-round-just-ignore-me.html       https://www.excelforum.com/tips-and-tutorials/1172587-excel-vba-interception-and-implicit-intersection-and-vlookup.html#post4575462
Using Excel 2007 32 bit
Row\Col
E
F

6
10
'Declare all variables so as to see what VBA may give 'em

7
20
Dim VBNullNuThink As Variant, StringZeroLen As Variant, LNuThink As Variant, SNuThink As Variant 'Choose Variant and see what VBA "gives 'em"

8
30
Dim VBaZero As Variant: Let VBaZero = 0 'Put here for completeness, but i think we know 0 is a number just like 1  2   etc. so ignoor this ..for now... unless we need it later...

9
40
'

10
50
'Give 'em all a Null Nut Think

11
60
Let VBNullNuThink = vbNullString

12
70
Let StringZeroLen = "" 'I bet this must be a string as "parens" is wot ( what ) says "hey, here comes a string"

13
80
'Let LNuThink = Nothing'Don't work, so leave Empty for now

14
90
Set SNuThink = Nothing

15
100
'

16
110
'Highlight the variables, Hit Shift+F9 to get them displayed in a watch window...

17
120
'Click in left Margin at Line Number  to put a stop point ...

18
130
'Run Code and see what Vba Puts for a type within the Variant Variable allocated for each

19
140
'Results:

20
150
'VBNullNuThink = "", Type String within Variant Variable

21
160
'StringZeroLen = "", Type String within Variant Variable

22
170
'LNuThink = Empty, Type Empty

23
180
'SNuThink = Nothing, Type Object within Variant Variable

24
190


25
200
'Try the If   = ""     test

26
210
    If VBNullNuThink = "" Then MsgBox prompt:="VBNullNuThink = """"" ' = ""

27
220
    'If VBNullNuThink = Nothing Then MsgBox prompt:="VBNullNuThink = Nothing" ' Complile Error

28
230
    If StringZeroLen = "" Then MsgBox prompt:="StringZeroLen = """"" ' = ""

29
240
    'If StringZeroLen = Nothing Then MsgBox prompt:="StringZeroLen is Nothing" ' Complile Error

30
250
    If LNuThink = "" Then MsgBox prompt:="LNuThink = """"" ' = ""

31
260
    'If LNuThink = Nothing Then MsgBox prompt:="LNuThink is Nothing" ' Complile Error

32
270
    'If SNuThink = "" Then MsgBox prompt:="LNuThink is """"" ' Is ""'RunTime Eror


Worksheet: LineNumbersEmpties

I have not read your whole wall of text. Just a few notes on your perception of chat. If a question attracts a ping pong of comments, users are prompted to move that conversation to chat and will be given a link to do so.

Originally Posted by teylyn

I have not read your whole wall of text.. Just a few notes on your perception of chat. If a question attracts a ping pong of comments, users are prompted to move that conversation to chat and will be given a link to do so.

Yep, Got that one
https://www.excelforum.com/the-water...ml#post4602819

Originally Posted by Doc.AElstein

.....
Edit a few days later...

I just started at Stack overflow.... I got this. “...Please avoid extended discussions in comments. Would you like to automatically move this discussion to chat? ...”...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4...98339#42998339

It is very difficult to get the balance right.
_ A longer Wall of text post of mine would, by many be split over many posts sometimes over a few Threads. Some people prefer to chat that way rather than consolidating relevant info together. vive la difference I always say.

_ I mentioned already the comments section, chat sections, ( and that “...users are prompted to move that conversation to chat and will be given a link..” ...) ... Taking that current example of mine:
A solution was given , which worked, - usually the Thread stops there. I checked a bit further – through ( and only through ) the “chat” it was noticed that the solution was wrong and we got, or are close to to the definitive answer. I mentioned that the comments are nicely compressed at Stack Oberflow, optionally hidden , avoiding the “white space” we have here. There may well be some final follow up to perfect the solution, and access to those “chats” will be very useful. At the end of the day a fairly ultimate bullet proof solution, with explanation has been / will be produced that will benefit generally people searching for the solution. It advances generally the VBA science, as other solutions stopped short and did not quite get it right leading likely to problems later.... That is just my preference, - get it thoroughly correct and understood. But I mean this sincerely: vive la difference - some OPs just want the quick answer that seemed to work and when it doesn’t they will come back for another quick fix, partial, not quite right solution. They are happy to do that a career long and many great helpers who I admire greatly are happy to churn out the similar quick solutions time and time again. Maybe it is all a bit illogical. Thank god. That’s Human... like chatting. In my opinion we should use computers, not become them.

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Edit :
A couple of more differences I noticed at Stack Overflow:
_ No Email Notifications: I know not all favour them , but many rely on then especially many newer OPs. I expect it is deliberate to encourage quick answers, etc.. But it doesn’t work , - if you look through the ( only ) question list and go down it a bit you find many good answers that clearly have been missed , the vast majority of answers in fact are missed. They have a similar thing tour User Control Panel, but it is not obvious and the vast majority of newer OPs, which like us makes up the major number of members, have no idea about it.

_ Single List.
You have a single list of questions. So diverse that trying to find a question to answer is a pain. Once again once you know your way around you can do a work around, but it is not obvious – ( For example : if you want to effectively filter to Excel or VBA then you can “..search for questions in those tags and sort them by newest:...” . http://stackoverflow.com/questions/t...ba?sort=newest .... thanks to the Help team at Stack overflow ( whoever they are, - they are anomanus ) for showing me how to do that. )