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Kylotan
Kylotan
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At Byte56's request:

I would argue that we are wrong to close such topics, and equally wrong to dogmatically insist in the comments that the original asker edits their question to fit some arbitrary rule. If specifically focused on a certain technique, the fact that the asker used the phrase "how did X do Y" instead of "how can I do Y like X" should not be our cue to close the question. It's not our job to be the secret police dedicated to flushing out miscreants who never intend to implement the algorithm they ask about - if the answer will be useful to the world, then the question is surely useful also.

EDIT:

I think the criteria we judge the question on should be:

  • Is the technique relevant to modern developers (bearing in mind that many are working with restricted resources, eg. limited to 2D, small amounts of RAM, etc).
  • Is the technique possibly documented somewhere, or is it one that experienced developers will be able to comment on with authority?
  • Is the technique notable, whether for being innovative (eg. the rewind mechanic in Braid) or widely used (eg. the faux-3D rendering in Dungeon Master etc)

If these are true, or mostly true, I think it would be disingenuous to argue that the question and good answers to it would not benefit the community, meaning that closing the question is a net loss for the site.

At Byte56's request:

I would argue that we are wrong to close such topics, and equally wrong to dogmatically insist in the comments that the original asker edits their question to fit some arbitrary rule. If specifically focused on a certain technique, the fact that the asker used the phrase "how did X do Y" instead of "how can I do Y like X" should not be our cue to close the question. It's not our job to be the secret police dedicated to flushing out miscreants who never intend to implement the algorithm they ask about - if the answer will be useful to the world, then the question is surely useful also.

At Byte56's request:

I would argue that we are wrong to close such topics, and equally wrong to dogmatically insist in the comments that the original asker edits their question to fit some arbitrary rule. If specifically focused on a certain technique, the fact that the asker used the phrase "how did X do Y" instead of "how can I do Y like X" should not be our cue to close the question. It's not our job to be the secret police dedicated to flushing out miscreants who never intend to implement the algorithm they ask about - if the answer will be useful to the world, then the question is surely useful also.

EDIT:

I think the criteria we judge the question on should be:

  • Is the technique relevant to modern developers (bearing in mind that many are working with restricted resources, eg. limited to 2D, small amounts of RAM, etc).
  • Is the technique possibly documented somewhere, or is it one that experienced developers will be able to comment on with authority?
  • Is the technique notable, whether for being innovative (eg. the rewind mechanic in Braid) or widely used (eg. the faux-3D rendering in Dungeon Master etc)

If these are true, or mostly true, I think it would be disingenuous to argue that the question and good answers to it would not benefit the community, meaning that closing the question is a net loss for the site.

Source Link
Kylotan
Kylotan
  • 24.3k
  • 14
  • 14

At Byte56's request:

I would argue that we are wrong to close such topics, and equally wrong to dogmatically insist in the comments that the original asker edits their question to fit some arbitrary rule. If specifically focused on a certain technique, the fact that the asker used the phrase "how did X do Y" instead of "how can I do Y like X" should not be our cue to close the question. It's not our job to be the secret police dedicated to flushing out miscreants who never intend to implement the algorithm they ask about - if the answer will be useful to the world, then the question is surely useful also.