As developers who have progressed out of the "beginner" phase, we often underestimate just how far we've come. That's the nature of programming. Things that at one point seemed like the most complex thing in the world become second nature, so we write them off.

Slowly, over time, we become better and better developers. And as we grow, we often forget the pain we went through, which at best leads us to overlook our own talent and value, and at worst makes us hostile towards new developers ("You don't even know what X does? How can you call yourself a programmer!")

I thought it would be a fun exercise for those of us who have "been around" for a while to look back at some our oldest questions on Stack Overflow, the stuff from way back when, and share some of the "craziest" stuff we ever asked. The stuff that seems so basic and fundamental to us now, but at one point made about as much sense to us as quantum physics (or some other crazy complex concept if you happen to be an expert in the field.)

If you're a beginner reading this, I hope this discussion helps you realize that we've all been there, and if we can do it, so can you!

And if you're past the beginner phase, I hope this exercise helps you realize the value of your own skill, and makes you a little bit more understanding of and forgiving towards newer developers.

So here it goes.

What's the craziest question you ever asked on Stack Overflow?

Feel free to add explanations, code snippets, links to the questions, and any other information you want!

If you are a new developer and any of these examples are something you currently struggle with, I hope labeling them as "crazy" isn't off-putting. The intention here isn't to make anyone feel stupid for not knowing something, but rather to highlight that we've all struggled with the same fundamental concepts at some point in our developer career.