As ChrisF mentioned, questions need to invite some unique insight from programmers beyond just a simple "I'm asking programmers" clause. In terms of possible scope, we want to hit the blue area of this diagram:  Additionally, real questions invite *answers*, not *ideas*, *opinions*, or *lists*. From [our FAQ](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask): > You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page. > If your motivation for asking the question is “I would like to participate in a discussion about `_____`”, then you should not be asking here. (You are more than welcome to have such discussions in our [real time web chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/).) However, if your motivation is “I would like others to explain `______` to me”, then you are probably OK. > To prevent your question from being flagged [and possibly removed](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/faq#deletion), **avoid** asking subjective questions where … > * every answer is equally valid: “What’s your favorite `______`?” I closed it as off-topic per these guidelines: Stack Exchange is not well suited for generating lists of recommendations. However, after looking around, I found we had an earlier round that I thought might be helpful (even if it happened to have been closed), so I changed the close reason to exact duplicate to provide a link back to the earlier question. As others have noted, it's probably a better fit for [Productivity.SE](http://productivity.stackexchange.com) or even [Project Management.SE](http://pm.stackexchange.com), but the guidelines about open-ended questions are a network-wide thing, and lists of recommendations are off-topic everywhere, not just on Programmers.SE. Further reading: * [Are questions not directly related to programming (but might concern programmers) on-topic?](https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/288/are-questions-not-directly-related-to-programming-but-might-concern-programmers) * [Are “I'm looking for X” questions on topic?](https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1624/are-im-looking-for-x-questions-on-topic) * [Real Questions Have Answers](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/01/real-questions-have-answers/) * [Q&A is Hard, Let's Go Shopping!](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/qa-is-hard-lets-go-shopping/) Also check out [Frequently closing popular questions](https://softwareengineering.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1675/frequently-closing-popular-questions), where the idea that the guidelines in place shouldn't apply to popular questions was discussed.