Patterns and Best Practices of Knowledge Sharing among Programmers on Stack Overflow: A Qualitative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21609/jsi.v21i1.1441Keywords:
best practice, knowledge sharing, pattern of users, programmers, stack overflowAbstract
This research explores knowledge-sharing patterns and best practices among programmers on the Stack Overflow platform. Using a qualitative approach, the study analyzes interviews with seven programmers to identify user behavior and contributions to knowledge sharing. The findings reveal that most users exhibit passive usage, seeking solutions without actively participating due to introverted tendencies, time constraints, and concerns about redundancy and confidentiality. However, Stack Overflow remains a valuable resource for problem-solving. Best practices identified include using multiple forums, ensuring detailed and clear questions, and encouraging active participation. These strategies can enhance the quality of shared knowledge and create a more comprehensive and reliable knowledge base for the programming community. The study also suggests that addressing psychological barriers and integrating knowledge-sharing activities into routine work processes can increase active participation. These insights are essential for improving user engagement and the overall effectiveness of online knowledge-sharing platforms.
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References
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Kumi, R., & Sabherwal, R. (2019). Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives. Knowledge and Process Management, 26(2), 110 – 122. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1574
Li, X., Xu, Z., & Hu, Y. (2023). How time pressure is associated with knowledge sharing: a dual-path mechanism study. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(7), 1765–1786. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2022-0256
Liu, J., Zhang, H., Xia, X., Lo, D., Zou, Y., Hassan, A. E., & Li, S. (2022). An exploratory study on the repeatedly shared external links on Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-10028-y
Lv, M., Sun, Y., & Shi, B. (2023). Impact of Introversion-Extraversion Personality Traits on Knowledge-Sharing Intention in Online Health Communities: A Multi-Group Analysis. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010417
Marco-Fondevila, M., Rueda-Tomás, M., & Latorre-Martínez, M. P. (2022). Active Participation and Interaction, Key Performance Factors of Face-to-Face Learning. Education Sciences, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070429
Mondal, S., Uddin, G., & Roy, C. (2023). Automatic prediction of rejected edits in Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-022-10242-2
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Nguyen, T.-M., & Fry, M.-L. (2022). Online knowledge sharing capability of young employees: An empirical study. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science: Bridging Asia and the World, 32(3), 415 – 433. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2020.1808849
Nguyen, T.-M., & Malik, A. (2022). Employee acceptance of online platforms for knowledge sharing: exploring differences in usage behaviour. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(8), 1985 – 2006. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2021-0420
Nguyen, T.-M., Nham, P. T., & Hoang, V.-N. (2019). The theory of planned behavior and knowledge sharing: A systematic review and meta-analytic structural equation modelling. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 49(1), 76 – 94. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-10-2018-0086
Nie, T., Gui, Y., & Huang, Y. (2024). Online sharing behaviors driven by need for approval: the choice of individuals with low social intelligence and high gratitude? Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02535-8
Nonnecke, B., Preece, J., & Andrews, D. (2004). What lurkers and posters think of each other. Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 37(May), 3045–3054. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265462
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Silva, C. C., Galster, M., & Gilson, F. (2021). Topic modeling in software engineering research. Empirical Software Engineering, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-10026-0
Veling, L., & McGinn, C. (2021). Qualitative Research in HRI: A Review and Taxonomy. International Journal of Social Robotics, 13(7), 1689–1709. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-020-00723-z
Yang, S., Chen, X., Liu, K., Yang, G., & Yu, C. (2024). Automatic bi-modal question title generation for Stack Overflow with prompt learning. Empirical Software Engineering, 29(3), 63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-024-10466-4
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Zhang, H., Wang, S., Chen, T.-H., & Hassan, A. E. (2021). Reading Answers on Stack Overflow: Not Enough! IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 47(11), 2520 – 2533. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2954319
Zhang, H., Wang, S., Chen, T.-H., Zou, Y., & Hassan, A. E. (2021). An Empirical Study of Obsolete Answers on Stack Overflow. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 47(4), 850 – 862. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2906315
Zheng, X., Chen, H., Wang, Z., Xie, F., & Bao, Z. (2023). Links between social class and internet altruistic behavior among undergraduates: chain mediating role of moral identity and self-control. Current Psychology, 42(11), 9303 – 9311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02210-8
Zhu, W., Zhang, H., Hassan, A. E., & Godfrey, M. W. (2022). An empirical study of question discussions on Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-022-10180-z
Al Mamun, M. A., & Lawrie, G. (2023). Student-content interactions: Exploring behavioural engagement with self-regulated inquiry-based online learning modules. Smart Learning Environments, 10(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00221-x
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 5th Edition. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICACCS54159.2022.9785164
de Lima, D. P. R., Gerosa, M. A., Conte, T. U., & José, J. F. (2019). What to expect, and how to improve online discussion forums: the instructors’ perspective. Journal of Internet Services and Applications, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13174-019-0120-0
Gao, Z., Xia, X., Grundy, J., Lo, D., & Li, Y.-F. (2020). Generating Question Titles for Stack Overflow from Mined Code Snippets. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol., 29(4). https://doi.org/10.1145/3401026
Griesbaum, J., Mahrholz, N., Von Löwe Kiedrowski, K., & Rittberger, M. (2015). Knowledge generation in online forums: A case study in the German educational domain. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 67(1), 2–26. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-09-2014-0112
Hamilton, A. B., & Finley, E. P. (2020). Reprint of: Qualitative methods in implementation research: An introduction. Psychiatry Research, 283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112629
Haque, M. U., Iwaya, L. H., & Babar, M. A. (2020). Challenges in docker development: A large-scale study using stack overflow. International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement. https://doi.org/10.1145/3382494.3410693
Hillman, T., Seredko, A., Nivala, M., & Osborne, T. (2021). Knowledge Sharing in Tension: Interacting and Documenting on Stack Overflow. L@S 2021 - Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale, 331–334. https://doi.org/10.1145/3430895.3460981
Hillman, T., Seredko, A., Osborne, T. K., & Nivala, M. (2023). From Answering for Points to Commenting for Others. Proceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale, 92–98. https://doi.org/10.1145/3573051.3593385
Jami Pour, M., & Taheri, F. (2019). Personality traits and knowledge sharing behavior in social media: mediating role of trust and subjective well-being. On the Horizon, 27(2), 98–117. https://doi.org/10.1108/OTH-03-2019-0012
Kang, M. (2020). Dual paths to continuous online knowledge sharing: a repetitive behavior perspective. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 72(2), 159 – 178. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2019-0127
Khan, M. N., Ashraf, M. A., Seinen, D., Khan, K. U., & Laar, R. A. (2021). Social Media for Knowledge Acquisition and Dissemination: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Collaborative Learning Driven Social Media Adoption. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(May), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648253
Kiger, M. E., & Varpio, L. (2020). Thematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE Guide No. 131. Medical Teacher, 42(8), 846–854. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1755030
Kim, S. L. (2021). Supervisor knowledge sharing and employee knowledge sharing: The moderating roles of learning goal orientation and affective organizational commitment. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084176
Kirk, J. R., Wray, R. E., Lindes, P., & Laird, J. E. (2022). Integrating Diverse Knowledge Sources for Online One-shot Learning of Novel Tasks. http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.09554
Kitzinger, J. (1995). Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups. Bmj, 311(7000), 299. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.311.7000.299
Kumaraswamy, K. S. N., & Chitale, C. M. (2012). Collaborative knowledge sharing strategy to enhance organizational learning. Journal of Management Development, 31(3), 308–322. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711211208934
Kumi, R., & Sabherwal, R. (2019). Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives. Knowledge and Process Management, 26(2), 110 – 122. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1574
Li, X., Xu, Z., & Hu, Y. (2023). How time pressure is associated with knowledge sharing: a dual-path mechanism study. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(7), 1765–1786. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2022-0256
Liu, J., Zhang, H., Xia, X., Lo, D., Zou, Y., Hassan, A. E., & Li, S. (2022). An exploratory study on the repeatedly shared external links on Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-10028-y
Lv, M., Sun, Y., & Shi, B. (2023). Impact of Introversion-Extraversion Personality Traits on Knowledge-Sharing Intention in Online Health Communities: A Multi-Group Analysis. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010417
Marco-Fondevila, M., Rueda-Tomás, M., & Latorre-Martínez, M. P. (2022). Active Participation and Interaction, Key Performance Factors of Face-to-Face Learning. Education Sciences, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070429
Mondal, S., Uddin, G., & Roy, C. (2023). Automatic prediction of rejected edits in Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-022-10242-2
Mwawasi, S. M. (2022). Leveraging Knowledge Sharing to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Organizations. Journal of Strategic Management, 6(1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t2043
Nadi, S., & Treude, C. (2019). Essential Sentences for Navigating Stack Overflow Answers. CoRR, abs/1912.1. http://arxiv.org/abs/1912.13455
Nguyen, T.-M., & Fry, M.-L. (2022). Online knowledge sharing capability of young employees: An empirical study. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science: Bridging Asia and the World, 32(3), 415 – 433. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2020.1808849
Nguyen, T.-M., & Malik, A. (2022). Employee acceptance of online platforms for knowledge sharing: exploring differences in usage behaviour. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(8), 1985 – 2006. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2021-0420
Nguyen, T.-M., Nham, P. T., & Hoang, V.-N. (2019). The theory of planned behavior and knowledge sharing: A systematic review and meta-analytic structural equation modelling. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 49(1), 76 – 94. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-10-2018-0086
Nie, T., Gui, Y., & Huang, Y. (2024). Online sharing behaviors driven by need for approval: the choice of individuals with low social intelligence and high gratitude? Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02535-8
Nonnecke, B., Preece, J., & Andrews, D. (2004). What lurkers and posters think of each other. Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 37(May), 3045–3054. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265462
Porak, L., & Reinke, R. (2024). The contribution of qualitative methods to economic research in an era of polycrisis. Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 5(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-024-00116-2
Presseau, J., Sniehotta, F. F., Francis, J. J., & Campbell, N. C. (2009). Multiple goals and time constraints: Perceived impact on physicians’ performance of evidence-based behaviours. Implementation Science, 4(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-4-77
Samuelsen, J., Chen, W., & Wasson, B. (2019). Integrating multiple data sources for learning analytics—review of literature. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-019-0105-4
Shehab, S., Al-Bsheish, M., Meri, A., Dauwed, M., Aldhmadi, B. K., Kareem, H. M., Alsyouf, A., Al-Mugheed, K., & Jarrar, M. (2023). Knowledge sharing behaviour among head nurses in online health communities: The moderating role of knowledge self-efficacy. PLoS ONE, 18(1 January). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278721
Shi, Y., Cao, H., & Chen, S. (2024). Order and disorder in the evolution of online knowledge community: an investigation of the chaotic behavior in social tagging systems with evidence of stack overflow. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 76(1), 132 – 152. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-08-2022-0353
Silva, C. C., Galster, M., & Gilson, F. (2021). Topic modeling in software engineering research. Empirical Software Engineering, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-10026-0
Veling, L., & McGinn, C. (2021). Qualitative Research in HRI: A Review and Taxonomy. International Journal of Social Robotics, 13(7), 1689–1709. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-020-00723-z
Yang, S., Chen, X., Liu, K., Yang, G., & Yu, C. (2024). Automatic bi-modal question title generation for Stack Overflow with prompt learning. Empirical Software Engineering, 29(3), 63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-024-10466-4
Yoshikawa, K., Wu, C.-H., & Lee, H.-J. (2023). Knowledge sharing on online platforms within organisations: An interactionist perspective on generalised exchange. Applied Psychology, 72(4), 1552 – 1576. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12457
Zhang, H., Wang, S., Chen, T.-H., & Hassan, A. E. (2021). Reading Answers on Stack Overflow: Not Enough! IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 47(11), 2520 – 2533. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2954319
Zhang, H., Wang, S., Chen, T.-H., Zou, Y., & Hassan, A. E. (2021). An Empirical Study of Obsolete Answers on Stack Overflow. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 47(4), 850 – 862. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2906315
Zheng, X., Chen, H., Wang, Z., Xie, F., & Bao, Z. (2023). Links between social class and internet altruistic behavior among undergraduates: chain mediating role of moral identity and self-control. Current Psychology, 42(11), 9303 – 9311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02210-8
Zhu, W., Zhang, H., Hassan, A. E., & Godfrey, M. W. (2022). An empirical study of question discussions on Stack Overflow. Empirical Software Engineering, 27(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-022-10180-z
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2025-03-26
How to Cite
Wirabuana, C., Ridho, M. M., Sensuse, D. I., Eitiveni, I., Hidayat, D. S., & Indriasari, S. (2025). Patterns and Best Practices of Knowledge Sharing among Programmers on Stack Overflow: A Qualitative Study. Jurnal Sistem Informasi, 21(1), 59–81. https://doi.org/10.21609/jsi.v21i1.1441
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