What is an Answer?

A good Answer has the following characteristics:

  1. Short: Takes 3-5 minutes to read. It’s okay if your read time is over 5 minutes as long as there is no unnecessary information present in your Answer.
  2. Highly technical: The content is explained in a concise and comprehensive manner. There should be no personal opinion present.
  3. Interactive: All Answers must contain at least one interactive element. This could be: an executable code widget, an illustration, a graph, a table, or another visual element. The interactive elements you choose to add must enhance the quality of your Answer.
  4. Self-contained: Every Answer must be comprehensive, meaning the reader does not need to navigate to another source or article to understand the topic. The only links allowed in an Answer are those to official documentation and other Answers.
  5. Original: Educative Answers does not tolerate plagiarism in any form. All submitted Answers will be checked for plagiarism before they are added to the Educative review process. For more information on the Educative Answers plagiarism policy, click here.

Educative Answer vs. blog post

Answers are:

  • Short
  • On one particular topic (ex: “How to append a column to DataFrame in pandas”)
  • Fact-based

Educative blog posts are:

  • Long
  • Cover multiple topics in one post
  • Deal with any topic that is valid within the tech community (e.g., culture, announcements, interview help, etc.)

How to write an Answer

  1. Choose a topic from our topic list.
  2. Research and outline your Answer.
  3. Follow the instructions below for how to write and format your Answer.

Steps for a basic Answer

  1. Add tags. Add a tag for each language used/discussed in your shot. All other tags will be removed before publication. Please keep in mind that only 5 tags are allowed per Answer.
  2. Introduce. Begin by explaining what you will be talking about (e.g., define it, explain who created it, explain what it does, etc.). You want the reader to open your Answer and have their question answered as soon as possible.
  3. Explain further. Now, explain your topic further. Depending on your topic, you could provide:
  • The syntax
  • The “types” of what you’re talking about. For example, if your topic is “What is a module in Python?”, you would give the different types of modules in Python.
  • A code widget so that each user can run the code within the Answer.
  1. Add an example. Provide an example code or situation that thoroughly explains the topic. If you are providing an example code, use the Educative code widget. Regardless of how you represent your example, any code you include should always be followed by a line-by-line explanation so that users can easily follow along.
  2. Create a title. Add your title, but make sure it is applicable to the content within the Answer.

What we don’t accept on Educative Answers

Please see our policies below. If your submission contains any of these elements, it will not be published.

  • We do not accept any plagiarized content.
  • We do not accept content that contains personal information or opinions.
  • We do not accept Answers that are not interactive.
  • We do not accept Answers that contain a video.

Worried that your Answer might not be accepted? Email answers@educative.io for guidance.