Are questions of the type "how do i implement this?" on topic

Question

I have come across a particular question from a new user and i, at first, wasn't sure what they were asking (hence my nonspecific answer). After giving it a few more reads it seems like they literally just want someone to implement some functionality in code and give it to them.

While questions regarding graphics programming are on topic, this seems like a low quality question that can't be properly answered in a single way.

The link to that question is this: How can I implement this BSDF?

I have provided an answer that touches on some of the theoretical basis and provides external resources to solve the problem knowing that it wasn't an actual answer to the question being asked in the hopes that it would still be of use to the asker. I refrained from commenting about the nature of the question on it since i wasnt sure if it was actually off-topic.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes that's a difficult aspect of Q&A I think. There is a wide spectrum between "do this for me" and genuine questions.

In this case the screenshots would indicate the person has done their homework and they are struggling with some aspect of the implementation. This is no surprise given the time it takes to get an intuitive understanding of the various parts involved.

Maybe one core issue with beginners is that they don't even understand themselves which part they are struggling with, which translates to a poorly asked question. Asking further questions in the comments could guide them toward identifying their specific problem.

Once the question is clear, I would tend to draw a line between programming questions "I don't know how to write a function" which don't really belong here, and understanding the math or the logic involved in a technique.

If after some effort the question is still unclear, it could be closed as "too broad".

P.S.: I would also consider off topic many of the programming bugs, unless they produce typical recognizable visual glitches. They require a lot of effort from the community but add very little value, if any at all.