3
$\begingroup$

The question Largest sum divisible by n has been posted both here and on Stack Overflow: Sum divisible by n. Stack Overflow has declined a flag suggesting that it be closed on Stack Overflow.

Should the question remain open on both sites, in this specific case? If not, should it be closed here on CS.SE?


Potentially secondary factors that may or may not be relevant:

  • We have made substantial revisions to the question here on CS.SE which, in my opinion, make our copy a better question (or, at least, better for CS.SE).

  • Among the answers received so far, the answers here on CS.SE seem better than the answers on Stack Overflow, in my opinion.

  • The problem statement, as quoted, claims this can be solved in $O(n)$ time. There has been doubt expressed about whether the problem can be solved in $O(n)$ time. It's not clear whether that has any relevance to this discussion, though.

  • For reference, cross-posting on multiple SE sites is generally not allowed: Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?. However, while this policy is a helpful guideline in general, no policy is absolute, so it's worthwhile to consider the specifics.

  • The poster not responded yet to requests to provide attribution or a citation to the original source of this question. It is apparently a challenge at university, according to a current comment here on CS.SE. (For our reference, here are our guidelines on referencing.)

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Imho, we should definitely not close. Other than flagging for migration (we would then merge the copies here), there's little to be done. We could ask the user to delete their Stack Overflow copy, but that would be rude towards the answerers there. $\endgroup$
    – Raphael Mod
    Mar 11, 2016 at 7:19

1 Answer 1

4
$\begingroup$

I think this one falls into the case when a question is appropriate for two sites, and each version has been tailored for the site's audience. The SO version comes with JavaScript code, the CS version comes with mathematical notations. It's the same underlying question but asked in somewhat different languages.

I don't think there's any interest in migrating the SO question here: it doesn't have any valuable answers, only answers that say “I don't think you can do better than O(n²)” without offering any argument as to why.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .