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Contributing Answers

This is about how to contribute to an answer you found in StackOverflow to make the code more re-usable.

You need 2000 reputation points to edit & even more to edit without peer review.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to contribute to so_pip the tool.

First: Do no harm

I wrote this tool as a joke. Don't go turn someones beautiful 10 line answer into a 3000 line monster just to make it more importable.

I think it is always safe to

  • fix indentation and syntax errors
  • change blockquote to code block if it is source code
  • add language hint, e.g. <!-- language: python --> or add python to "fenceposts"
  • add a [python] tag if there are enough space to add another tag
  • add imports (if it is just a few)
  • clean up people's Markdown and English.
  • upgrade 2.x only code to 2.7/3.x code, for example, print "yo" to print("yo")

I think it is a grey area to

  • change scripts to re-usable code, i.e. defs and classes
  • upgrade a 2.x answer to 3.x only code
  • correct the syntax of a question. The answers might become incoherent if the question is perfect code.
  • renaming all the variables to follow modern conventions

Use judgement when you are in the grey area.

I think it isn't a good idea to

  • Change answer style from IPython/Jupyter style to a single code block.
  • Turn one-liners into 100 liners, turn 100 liners into 1000 liners.
  • Add features unrelated to the question
  • Handle too many scenarios if the question wasn't about covering all scenarios

Use judgement if you think you have an exception to the guideline.

Comparison to Github

  • Edits not Pull Requests.
  • Edits are approved automatically, but can be reverted.
  • Editing requires enough reputation for the site to consider you trust worthy.
  • New answers instead of Forks. SO has no concept of a "forked answer"
  • StackOverflows code of conduct governs, cf GitHub where each project has a different code of conduct

Post a new answer if a major rewrite is needed

"Diff" answers (that show the corrected version of one line of code from a 100 line code block the original poster wrote) are awful for so_pip. But they are easy on the eyes for humans to read.

To correct a "Diff" answer and make it consumable by so_pip, post a new answer. There still might be drama with people complaining if the answer doesn't "add" something new that hasn't already been said.

Perfect Answer

def hypoteneuse(a, b):
    return sqrt(a*2 + b*2)
if __name__ =="__main__":
    assert hypoteneuse(4,5)>=4 and hypoteneuse(4,5)>=5
  • Answer with a function with parameters instead of script.
  • Exercise code with if __name__ =="__main__" block
  • Use built in testing structures like assert or unittest
  • Specify the language of the code block
  • include imports if any
  • declare and initialize any variables

Python 2.x vs 3.x support

Sometimes the OP, ten years ago, asked for a 2.x answer. That guy might not even be alive now, so today the audience is people who probably use 2.7 and 3.x. The least-drama solution is probably to update answers to be 2.7/3.x compatible, or post a new answer that is 3.x compatible.