94
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using a non-free language on a Cops and Robbers challenge
Most (currently all) cops and robbers challenges consist of two parts:
A cop submission, where a user posts some secret property of a ...
90
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using prior knowledge to circumvent other loopholes
In particular, gaining an unfair advantage by inventing new languages for future challenges that are being sandboxed, discussed in chat, are your ...
66
votes
Let's allow newer languages/versions for older challenges
Trust the community and add a standard loophole
I think the community can handle the add-a-builtin problem (I may be very wrong). I think that if someone adds a feature to their language that is ...
- 13.7k
62
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Creating a new compiler for a language after a challenge was posted
There is some debate arising from this answer. He created his own compiler for the C programming language that extends the language ...
62
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Abusing native number types to trivialize a problem
It is common practice to restrict challenges to cases where input, output and/or intermediate values of the algorithm of choice fit into the ...
59
votes
Accepted
When can APL characters be counted as 1 byte each?
GNU APL and ngn/apl use UTF-8, so use a byte counting tool.
NARS2000 only uses UCS-2, so 2 bytes per character.
IBM's APL2 is the only modern APL that natively supports APL EBCDIC, so 1 byte per ...
- 29.7k
41
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
URL shorteners / shortened URLs
Every once in a while, we get a challenge that requires fetching some data from the internet. While some of them manage to ban URL shorteners in time, other don't. I ...
41
votes
Definite policy about duplicate answers
Allow duplicate answers
I think we shouldn't take action against duplicate submissions, even when the code is identical. We should assume good faith: the second submitter almost surely came up with ...
- 144k
40
votes
What constitutes a "free" language for cops and robbers?
Free access may not be time-limited
For a language to count as free, there has to be a time-unlimited, cost-free way (that does not violate any laws or terms of service) to compile and/or interpret ...
- 209k
40
votes
Accepted
Definitive policy about answers not meeting the challenge specification
Scope
As I see it, there are five types of invalid answers:
Answers that produce incorrect results.
This is the most common type, and usually an accident.
Answers that produce correct results, but ...
- 209k
38
votes
Accepted
Can I invent a language to solve a problem that's in the Sandbox?
No.
This is similar to updating the language after the actual question has been posted. It's simply no different.
To circumvent this loophole, maybe question askers should put the date at which it ...
- 11.1k
37
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
When consistent and distinct values are asked as input, you cannot input complete or partial functions
When I create a challenge and ask for a boolean or two '...
37
votes
Is a proof of impossibility allowed as an answer?
This is my opinion:
If the proof of impossibility is trivial, offer it as a comment and hope the OP revises their question or deletes it. If they don't, it should be closed as "unclear what you're ...
- 7,192
36
votes
Accepted
Are newbies allowed to write programs in golf languages?
Let's just put it this way — where do experienced golfing language users come from? They certainly don't just fall out of the sky, and must have started somewhere, right?
Without the practice and ...
- 61.7k
35
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Outputting an expression instead of a number
For example, outputting 3*3 instead of 9, or outputting ...
33
votes
Ethics of posting if you're a bad programmer
Of course you can!
We welcome any and all participation. How you choose to participate is up to you.
I went over a year without posting any challenges at all; all of my participation was answers. ...
- 24.6k
32
votes
Accepted
32
votes
Accepted
Multiple answers in a single post
No, this is not acceptable
xnor's proposal to combine equivalent trivial answers talks about solutions that are just a built-in. None of the answers in the post you mention are just rather; they all ...
- 209k
31
votes
Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Improper quines
We've reached consensus on what counts as a proper quine over a year ago, yet the occasional "quine" that consists of nothing more than literals and/or NOPs still comes up.
...
31
votes
Accepted
Is there a place I can place my so-close-but-not-quite answer?
I can see how it can be frustrating not to be able to share an almost working solution, but I think if we allowed them, we'd be opening a much bigger can of worms. Just how valid does a solution need ...
- 196k
31
votes
Can serious contenders do more than the challenge asks for?
Serious contenders do not contain superfluous code
I propose the following:
If a part or multiple parts of the code can be deleted without affecting its functionality with regard to the challenge ...
- 209k
30
votes
Accepted
Is it permitted for a submission to terminate merely with probability 1?
Yes
Banning submissions that work with a probability of 1 removes the option of rejection sampling which is an approach that already has been used countless times.
- 43.6k
28
votes
Accepted
Programming in Minecraft (Redstone) - how to measure program size?
There is now an MC Standard for bytecount.
With the 1.10 update, they introduced a block called the "structure block", which creates a .nbt file representing a structure in its entirety that can be ...
- 11.1k
28
votes
Should we combine answers where the same code works in many different languages?
Combine equivalent trivial answers
I think the idea is right, but needs to specifically target the problem case of built-in-does-it answers.
Trivial challenges invite many trivial answers that are ...
- 144k
27
votes
Are newbies allowed to write programs in golf languages?
An answer is judged on its content, not on the status of the person who posted it.
If an established and respected community member posts an answer to a code-golf question that makes no effort to ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible