Questions tagged [scope]
Use this tag when examining what is on-topic or off-topic, and why.
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A guide to Code Review for Stack Overflow users
You're on Stack Overflow and you've found a question that seems to be about improving code. You are trying to be helpful, and you put a comment in the question:
You should try asking on CodeReview....
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My question was closed as being off-topic. What are my options?
I can understand that sometimes questions are closed as being too opinionated, too broad, or unclear, but my question was closed as being off-topic. I have read the On-Topic Help Center page for Code ...
36
votes
4answers
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Code Review vs. Help me solve my problem
A question that asks:
I don't know how to best solve problem X, can you suggest a way?
... is clearly off-topic on Code Review.
A question that asks:
I have solved problem X, and this is how I ...
29
votes
4answers
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Why is hypothetical example code off-topic for Code Review?
As stated in the Help Center, one of the criteria for a question to be on topic is:
Is it actual code from a project rather than pseudo-code or example code?
What is the rationale for that ...
26
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3answers
250 views
Is asking for a review of boiler plate for a minimal repro okay?
For asking and answering questions on Stack Overflow with certain frameworks and libraries I have boilerplate lying around for a minimal repro. I would be interested in getting feedback on my WCF ...
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6answers
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How should we revise the standard off-topic reasons, if we can have up to five?
Note: For chat-like discussions of this subject, let's use this Discuss Close Reasons chat room
Code Review currently has three standard off-topic reasons:
Questions containing broken code or asking ...
25
votes
5answers
332 views
Do one-liners and other narrowed-down code qualify for a code review?
Every once in a blue moon, a question gets posted (often as a new user's first post) where the OP is asking a quite specific question about very minimalistic code, for example:
...
24
votes
4answers
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Reviewing “design”
It has been said in various comments that on Code Review we review code and not design.
I find this statement not very clear though. Obviously, if someone has an UML and not any written code, that's ...
22
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6answers
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If SO had a standard off-topic reason for code review requests, how should it be worded?
We have long been fighting a battle against Stack Overflow users who vote to close questions with custom reasons like
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it belongs on Code ...
21
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8answers
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How much idle chatter do we tolerate in The 2nd Monitor?
Related but not a duplicate: How far off-topic can we get in 'the 2nd monitor'?
Today was a complicated day in the history of The 2nd Monitor.
On one side there appears to be consensus something ...
21
votes
5answers
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Is [lolcode] reviewable?
Down with FizzBuzz created a lolcode tag.
Some (cough) brainfuck (cough) are even further down the esoteric alley.
Given our current site rules, I'd tend to agree.
I don't think allowing lolcode ...
21
votes
1answer
444 views
The Guiding Principles of Code Review
What do you believe are the Guiding Principles of Code Review? What are the purpose and mission of the site?
Recently (and not so recently) a lot of effort and hair-pulling has gone into discussing ...
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5answers
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What IS a Code Review?
So, this site is called "Code Review"...
What we do here is... ask for and write Code Reviews, naturally.
However, I feel that there are a whole bunch of different thoughts floating around about ...
19
votes
3answers
200 views
Reviewing AI based on how it performs
On Code Golf is is common to see a king-of-the-hill question where you have to implement an AI based on the rules given in the question.
So then I got to thinking - "If I developed an AI for one of ...
18
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4answers
369 views
Should comparisons of code snippets be closed as “not seeking a code review”?
I've been seeing some "A vs. B" questions for a while, and I'm not sure if they're considered on-topic for this site. Many of these questions are not asking for a review, but which code snippet is ...
18
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1answer
170 views
What's on and off topic in The 2nd Monitor chat room?
Exactly what is considered strictly off-topic there?
Anyone can assume the obvious: NSFW (Not Safe for Work) are off topic, and should be flagged.
Anything else?
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3answers
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They asked me to write awkward code – how did I do?
Recently, somebody was given a homework assignment with an exercise specification that left much to desire. Yet, they've tried to make the best out of it and managed to write some code that seems to ...
17
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2answers
651 views
“Time Limit Exceeded” and programming challenges
Lately I've seen many questions pertaining to Project Euler and similar that have problems with time limit exceeded. And this prompted the question, are these questions on topic? I mean, the code, ...
16
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5answers
275 views
Are questions with undiscovered bugs allowed?
Re: Connect 4 in C++
Situation: The OP, a beginner posted code with several bugs in it. They said they thought the code worked okay, because they hadn't discovered the bugs during their testing, ...
16
votes
5answers
392 views
Can we revisit “Did I write that code myself”?
Did I write that code myself?
This is one of the six questions the help center recommends users should be able to answer "Yes" to before posting their question.
I'm not sure I quite understand ...
16
votes
2answers
246 views
Are we allowed to ask questions about just regular expressions?
Are we allowed to ask questions just about regular expressions?
16
votes
3answers
219 views
Does this question belong on Code Review? Should it go to Code Golf?
I posted this question about how to rewrite a C# algorithm in fewer lines of code, preferably using extension methods, which prompted a discussion in the comments about whether it was appropriate for ...
16
votes
3answers
200 views
Can we review spreadsheet formulas?
So, this question has been bothering me for a long time now. It is asking for a review of one line of "code" which is really a spreadsheet formula.
Actually, it's not even asking for a review in my ...
15
votes
3answers
205 views
Are code snippets with known memory leaks broken?
As part of our check-list for questions on CodeReview, we require that code is working to the best of the askers knowledge.
Does code with a known memory leak qualify is broken per this rule?
On the ...
15
votes
7answers
224 views
One Question Per Question
I voted to close this question as being "Too Broad," on account of the fact that it's actually five, independent questions. At the very least, an answer would have to address all five questions, so it'...
15
votes
2answers
257 views
Nothing to review
This question claims to implement the Nothing language.
I'm citing the language specification (emphasis mine):
Note: if the output does not meet the expectation of a "hello world"-program, this ...
15
votes
4answers
612 views
Questions should include a description of what the code does
Related:
What criteria do you use to upvote a question?
What makes a good question?
I feel that it is currently too easy to copy some code that you have written and put it up for review here on Code ...
15
votes
2answers
242 views
Do configuration files constitute reviewable code?
A question asks to have a Samba configuration file reviewed. Do we consider a configuration file to be code? It's certainly not a Turing-complete language. Is Turing completeness a defining criterion?...
15
votes
2answers
580 views
Should specific questions about example code be on-topic?
I've noticed some questions, like the following, come up:
https://codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/30092/map-then-iterate-why
Inheritance and forcing methods to be called inside another method
...
15
votes
3answers
278 views
The gray areas of Code Review: Hypothetical / Example code
This is related to Why is hypothetical example code off-topic for Code Review?
Which is related to On-Topic question #3:
Is it actual code from a project rather than pseudo-code or example code?
...
14
votes
4answers
218 views
Code requiring a third-party pre-processor to make it work
In this Wolves, Goats and Cabbages in Java question (here is a link to the pre-edited version), Java code is presented to solve the problem.
The code requires pre-processing by a third-party tool in ...
14
votes
4answers
102 views
Questions about documentation
Are questions about writing/improving documentation appropriate and on-topic for Code Review? And if so, should there be a documentation tag?
Let's be clear--I'm not talking about questions seeking ...
14
votes
3answers
157 views
“How secure…” questions - Code Review vs. Information Security SE
Recently I have seen a whole lot of questions in the form of "How secure is this hashing", "How secure is my keygen?", "How secure is my form?".
We do have a quite popular security tag, with 159 ...
14
votes
2answers
234 views
Are Scratch questions okay on Code Review?
I want to post a scratch project on codereview for people to give feedback at, but im worried that it would get downvoted and flagged for being off topic.
So are scratch projects allowed? And if not, ...
14
votes
2answers
150 views
Does a simplified and self-contained code constitute 'real code'?
I am currently developing an Android application, which makes use of tabs. Because I faced some problems when updating individual tabs in the UI, I have created a new app whose sole purpose is to act ...
14
votes
1answer
175 views
Can I ask for review for something specific without posting too much context?
I'm working on an Angular2 application and I think one very small, specific function (list filtering) needs improvement and I would welcome reviews. Essentially I iterate more times than I think is ...
14
votes
2answers
166 views
Questions that are “I did this, it seems to work, how did I do?”
I've been an active member of StackOverflow for more than two years, and have a decent amount of rep on some other SE sites like Programmers, Code Golf and here. But the one type of question that ...
14
votes
1answer
314 views
Does a single shell command constitute reviewable code?
A question asks to have a command-line invocation of FFmpeg reviewed. Is that reviewable code?
There is currently no language tag, though shell unix could be added.
Let's not discuss whether a ...
14
votes
1answer
111 views
Clarification as to why a question was closed as off-topic
An old question that was posted 3 years ago was put "on-hold" as off-topic.
I have not been an active participant on Code Review (I received a notification thanks to a down-vote a couple of days ago),...
14
votes
5answers
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Are requests to analyze the complexity of code on-topic?
Here is an example of a question that asks for a big-O analysis of a function (to count the number of ways to make change): What is the run time of this algorithm?
Here is my algorithm
...
14
votes
1answer
156 views
Are questions about LaTeX documents on-topic?
A few reasons to allow them:
I recently found that there are best practices and document organization methods. That is, splitting the documents based on sections, tables and so forth and using input ...
14
votes
1answer
122 views
Code-correctness in the FAQ
As pointed by the poster of this question: https://codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/8609/dynamic-programming-algorithm-code-review, our FAQ states the following is on-topic:
Code correctness
...
14
votes
2answers
231 views
Can graphical notation count as code or should questions with exclusively graphical notation be considered off topic?
As a community, are we willing to accept graphical notation as a form of code that is subject to code review?
I recently answered a question that asked for review of a database model as presented in ...
14
votes
1answer
143 views
Reviewing language design, with working interpreter and test case?
I'd like to get some feedback on a small tuple-rewriting language I've been playing with. It has a working interpreter, and a working test case.
A little more background information: This idea began ...
14
votes
1answer
95 views
Should a warning be displayed when writing a question with no code?
On SO, if I include the words "best practice" in the title of a question, I get a message before I even submit the question warning me that the question appears subjective and may be closed.
Could we ...
14
votes
1answer
257 views
A question was migrated to CR when the OP obviously didn't want a code review. Why?
So, I ran across this question. It would be a pretty good question except for one little detail: the OP doesn't want it reviewed.
... and am not looking for pure code improvements.
Also, in the ...
13
votes
3answers
275 views
Should design questions be on-topic here?
Design questions are ones that deal with architecture, package layout, object hierarchies, etc., but do not necessarily include code.
We already deal with this sort of question on a daily basis at ...
13
votes
6answers
256 views
What should we do about questions asking to “fix” warnings?
Around the time of writing this post, this question was asked: Extension method to list enum values. The OP is asking how to "fix" their code so a specific warning doesn't pop up (emphasis added):
...
13
votes
2answers
240 views
Code that handles n% of test cases but not all
I've started noticing recently questions like this one (66%, not well received) or that one (50%, well received) where the author states something like this:
I am trying to solve this problem on ...
13
votes
1answer
94 views
Are Code Golf King-of-the-Hill controller programs allowed here?
I am in the process of writing a KOTH challenge for Code Golf (it's on the meta sandbox), and like for all KOTH challenges I need to write some code to pit everyone's bot against each other. I've done ...
