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I noticed an old question, An improved version of GolfScript, which asked, as a question, for people to suggest ways to improve GolfScript. This was a well-received question, but times may have changed. I'd like to ask a similar question about Pyth, for obvious reasons.

I'd like to know whether such a question, "What would you like to see improved in Pyth" or similar, would be on topic.

Similarly, but more generally, there is the tag . The question linked above is its most recent question that wasn't closed. Is anything in that category still on topic?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I hope some of the similar questions would be on topic. But if it is supposed to have one feature request per answer, with no criteria, that's likely opinion based and too broad. \$\endgroup\$
    – jimmy23013
    Sep 7, 2015 at 18:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @jimmy23013 What would you recommend instead? \$\endgroup\$
    – isaacg
    Sep 7, 2015 at 18:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ For the too broad general feature requests, maybe the issue tracker? For what can be asked here, I'm not sure. \$\endgroup\$
    – jimmy23013
    Sep 7, 2015 at 18:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ "For obvious reasons..." because Pyth is still doing really bad at golfing? ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – Martin Ender
    Sep 7, 2015 at 18:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ So basically you want to ask for advice on how to make Pyth even more unbeatable in code golf? \$\endgroup\$
    – Fatalize
    Sep 8, 2015 at 7:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Fatalize Exactly! \$\endgroup\$
    – isaacg
    Sep 8, 2015 at 12:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think these would be better suited for meta, since they're pure opinion-based. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ypnypn
    Sep 9, 2015 at 13:37
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Ypnypn Meta is for asking questions about the site. Such a question would be off topic for meta as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – Alex A.
    Oct 12, 2015 at 0:07

4 Answers 4

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Stack Exchange is not an issue tracker

I haven't voted on this since it was posted, because I wasn't really sure how I feel about it, but now that the Pyth question has been posted, I don't think PPCG is the right place for posts like this.

Posting a question along the lines of "I want to make XYZ a better language, so I'd like to know what features people are looking for." is essentially setting up an issue tracker, and I don't think it really makes sense to do that on PPCG. The only real precedent for using SE as an issue tracker is StackApps and even there it feels a bit shoehorned I think.

The right platform for this kind of thing is an actual issue tracker, like the one in the corresponding GitHub repository.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I would like to add that this answer is specifically about general questions of the type the question and my answer are quoting. I could potentially imagine good, answerable and on-topic questions about improving golfing languages which don't amount to asking for a list of feature requests (maybe "This is my golfing language - how could I reduce syntactical overhead of array literals?" or something like that) - but I think that's a discussion we should have once we have a question like that to point to. \$\endgroup\$
    – Martin Ender
    Oct 8, 2015 at 18:50
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Yes, asking for feature requests is still on topic

Code golf is a major part of this site. We should continue to welcome questions aimed at improving existing golfing languages for the betterment of the code golf community.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I agree that such questions should be considered on topic provided that they're 1. about an existing golfing and/or esoteric language 2. community-wiki. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Sep 7, 2015 at 19:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Dennis Well, then asking tips to write faster code is on-topic as well. If you want new features in a language, use the chat. Not the main website. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ismael Miguel
    Oct 9, 2015 at 0:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ -1 from me (can't vote) \$\endgroup\$
    – Alex A.
    Oct 9, 2015 at 4:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ The problem with this is that any language is then entitled to a thread, and although I don't have a problem with the Pyth or Golfscript thread since it's really a PPCG thing, it's not nice to be flooded with "hey I created this language while I was drunk yesterday, feature request plox" requests. That being said, I think there ought to be more general threads along with the challenges, here. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sanchises
    Oct 9, 2015 at 21:23
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NO! That's too broad!

Questions seeking advice/tips other than "How to golf on language X" are too broad, since there isn't a concrete answer that can be accepted.

Seriously, anything goes on "How to improve language X"! You can only vote if you like it or not, but you can't (necessarly) vote if it is good or bad.

This comes from experience on one question I've asked a while ago, that was about asking tips to write faster PHP code, for challenges where time is important.

The question was shot down and thrown into oblivion.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Your tips for fastest code question was deemed too broad, not off topic. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Oct 9, 2015 at 4:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Dennis Adjusted the answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ismael Miguel
    Oct 9, 2015 at 8:13
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No, such questions are no longer on topic

As you said, times have changed. Such questions would now be considered too broad and/or opinion-based.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ +1 from me (can't vote) \$\endgroup\$
    – Alex A.
    Oct 12, 2015 at 0:06

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