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This answer clearly wasn't golfed, but is still a valid solution to the problem. How should we handle such answers? Should we down-vote them for being long? Should a mod delete them for being off-topic?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Downvoting might be a bit harsh, but not upvoting probably happens automatically, throwing such answers to the bottom of the lists. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joey
    Jan 27, 2011 at 23:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ The question is the problem if only golfed answers were supposed to be posted, not the answer. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 28, 2011 at 5:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Wasn't a golf question! \$\endgroup\$
    – Crazy Eddie
    Jan 28, 2011 at 17:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Noah You're right, but I've accepted Nakilon's answer which says that and points out the problem that lead to this question. Which is a problem we need to deal with. \$\endgroup\$
    – moinudin
    Jan 28, 2011 at 17:33

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At link you've provided, I don't see any word about GOLF.
But if question had such tag or task with words "... the shortest solution ...", then... anyway such ansers will not have any points and after some time they will be pushed to 2nd page by better answers.

By the way, if questioner surely didn't want answerers to golf, maybe we need some tag for this or some note at FAQ or... I don't know any suitable way to make people see it, but somtimes questions at SO didn't suppose to be golfed, but ONE man started to golf and plenty of others continued it.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Exactly. The question did not say it needed to be golfed, and this site it NOT only for golfing problems, it's for other programming puzzles as well. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 28, 2011 at 5:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ c# and Java answers often like to give a line count instead of a character count :) some people might consider one really long line to be a shorter program than 2 quite short lines. \$\endgroup\$
    – gnibbler
    Jan 28, 2011 at 10:17
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A solution that was un-golfed in that it was readable. I'd probably leave alone (no vote either way)

There were, however, a few examples on SO of people who evidently tried to write very long answers (which I consider different from my using heavily golfed fortran 77 from time to time). I'd be tempted to vote those down.

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