Apparently, I angered someone on a topic that is so controversial that my answer became part of a StackOverflow Meta(!) discussion about how to deal w

My most downvoted StackOverflow answer

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2024-09-05 14:30:02

Apparently, I angered someone on a topic that is so controversial that my answer became part of a StackOverflow Meta(!) discussion about how to deal with such terrible answers.

… Example: How do I determine the size of my array in C? has this answer. The question was never tagged C++ yet the answer only applies to C++. The score is +18 -5 = 13 currently. There is little hope of down-voting it far enough to enable delete-voting any time soon. What should be done with such answers?

When I wrote that answer (13 years ago, but only *checks-notes* 11 years before the meta-discussion 🫠), I needed to know the size of an array in a C thing I was working on, and the top answer(s) (sizeof(a)/sizeof(a[0])) didn’t apply.

However! My C thing was actually a C/C++ thing, so I wrote my answer (== can’t be done, if C++ then use vector1), went on with my life and forgot all about it.

Apparently, I stepped (through time and space) right into one of the most fiery subjects on SO (a site not known for calm and respectable discourse at the best of times):