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Sometimes there's need for including large chunks of data/code in a question. (See comments to the question: the OP tried to include a couple of long XML files, but that wasn't possible.)

What's the recommended approach to including code/data, when there's just too much of it to embed in the question?

I could think of a few approaches myself:

  • Paste the data to a pastebin and link (and wait for the links to die)
  • Encode the (compressed) data in an image and include that (kludgy!)
  • Implement an attachment feature in Stack Overflow (which will probably be abused)
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This question has been addressed before: Posting lots of code in a question, Asking a question with lots of source code. –  Cody Gray Apr 15 '11 at 9:09
But there's no such thing as "too much code to embed in the question". I've never had the system reject a question or answer for being too long, and if it does, then you seriously have too much code. It's unreasonable to suppose that a snippet that long can't be trimmed down any further. –  Cody Gray Apr 15 '11 at 9:10
@Cody Gray: I do agree that mostly posting a lot of code equals a bad question, but is there no case at all where it's necessary? Sorry for the duplicateish question, I couldn't find a similar question with the search function. –  dancek Apr 15 '11 at 9:20
Fair enough, the search function has been roundly criticized before. Don't take it personally when people point out duplicates. I suppose that a known-trustworthy site like pastebin is the best option if something like this is truly necessary. But I've never seen it. Personally, there's a -20% chance that I'd ever read that much code. There'd better be a heck of a bounty attached. –  Cody Gray Apr 15 '11 at 9:22

1 Answer 1

up vote 16 down vote accepted

Nobody needs to throw ten tons of code into a question.


Plus, tl;dr syndrome guarantees that the more crap you throw in a question the more likely it is you won't get an answer.

Hell, I think the max question length should be dropped by 3/4. I've heard that skill in asking a question is more important than length. Or was it column width? Anyhow, a massive code dump smells like what it sounds like. Stop it. Don't.

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+1. “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” -Marcus Tullius Cicero, philosopher and statesman. –  Piskvor Apr 15 '11 at 15:12
Absolutely "tl;dr syndrom guarantees that the more crap you throw in a question the more likely it is you won't get an answer" - when I see walls of code, I generally just post a comment asking them to pare it down or I just move on, I don't even bother trying to dissect the whole thing. –  Daniel DiPaolo Apr 15 '11 at 15:17

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