Answer by The Empty String Photographer for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Using a very high base (like base Graham’s number) in a challenge where you need to output a big numberIn my answer, I just outputted 10, and claimed it was in base number that is bigger than any...
View ArticleAnswer by The Empty String Photographer for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Cracking your own answer (including using an alt account) in a cops-and-robbers challenge.It would just allow you to get a large number of points with no effort! Plus, it doesn’t even make any sense to...
View ArticleAnswer by The Empty String Photographer for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Outputting a Lazy list/Lazy data type in fastest-code challengesThis just moves the computation to after runtime. For example, in Python, the code:def f(): return 492084389428**209480438084,...
View ArticleAnswer by mousetail for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Teaming up in a KOTHEach KOTH bot must try for its own win. If a bot has logic that specifically benefits a different bot, especially a bot by the same author, that wouldn't be fair. Then you could...
View ArticleAnswer by l4m2 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Storing information in type of inputImagine a language with billions kinds of arrays and you choose one type as input to do the job, which is silly
View ArticleAnswer by Seggan for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Builtins in sequence challenges that solve the challenge completelyI know we don't like disallowing builtins, but having a builtin in a sequence challenge solve the entire thing is a bit too much....
View ArticleAnswer by Bubbler for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Sidestepping in a theorem-proving challengeA theorem-proving challenge is about proving a statement (= constructing a value of the given type) given in a specific host language (designed for theorem...
View ArticleAnswer by pxeger for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Bypassing restricted-source by storing data in the file nameConsensus says that it is perfectly fine to store data in the file name as long as that is added to the byte count. However, this doesn't...
View ArticleAnswer by Rydwolf Programs for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using cryptographic functions in a cops and robbers challengeAlmost every cops and robbers challenge will have the following requirement:Using cryptographic functions such as hashes or PRNGs is...
View ArticleAnswer by Value Ink for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Exploiting the controller in a King-of-the-Hill challengeI'm surprised that this wasn't here before, but this answer found a loophole to exploit in the KotH problem that should really be sealed off....
View ArticleAnswer by Sara J for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using an inconsistent I/O format to encode informationFor example, for a hypothetical challenge where the output could only ever be two or eleven, submitting the python programlambda x:print"11"and...
View ArticleAnswer by wizzwizz4 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Infinite output programs that wouldn't give all output given infinite resourcesExample, loophole-violating code to output all integers:bigint i = 0;for(;;) bigint_print(i++);This would never output...
View ArticleAnswer by dfeuer for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Empty answers to questions requiring an interpreterIf a question asks for an implementation of a language or a machine, the language/machine itself is a terribly boring answer. In...
View ArticleAnswer by isaacg for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Exactly duplicating another answerThis specifically came up for me in a king-of-the-hill contest. In particular, this contest had a random component, so replicating a submission could allow one to win...
View ArticleAnswer by Kevin Cruijssen for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
When consistent and distinct values are asked as input, you cannot input complete or partial functionsWhen I create a challenge and ask for a boolean or two 'consistent and distinct values' I mean it...
View ArticleAnswer by Guido Leenders for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Features added to a pre-existing language, after the challenge was postedSee Covfefify a string. This might been solved in 45 bytes using:select covfefify(:a) from dual@datadictionaryThis isn't the...
View ArticleAnswer by Wheat Wizard for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Storing information in platform specificationsWe often allow people to require certain qualities of the machine their answer is run on, (for example Operating System). However we should disallow...
View ArticleAnswer by user45941 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Outputting Unicode characters in graphical-output challengesIf a challenge requires an image to be output, outputting a Unicode character instead is not acceptable. In graphical-output challenges, the...
View ArticleAnswer by user45941 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using a language's lack of features to trivialize a challengeThis is in the same vein as this other loophole.Consider this challenge. Using a language that cannot access an Internet connection would be...
View ArticleAnswer by user45941 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Precomputing data (including compile-time computation) to achieve lower runtime in fastest-code challengesConsider a challenge where solutions must print out as many Fibonacci numbers as possible...
View ArticleAnswer by Titus for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Sending error messages to the null device... instead of avoiding them.This should either be forbidden or add to the byte count, as setting options to suppress messages do.example
View ArticleAnswer by Dennis for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
URL shorteners / shortened URLsEvery once in a while, we get a challenge that requires fetching some data from the internet. While some of them manage to ban URL shorteners in time, other don't. I...
View ArticleAnswer by Dennis for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Improper quinesWe've reached consensus on what counts as a proper quine over a year ago, yet the occasional "quine" that consists of nothing more than literals and/or NOPs still comes up.While these...
View ArticleAnswer by user45941 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Generating a random stream of output when a specific output is requiredFor example, if a challenge requires you to output 4, you can't output an infinite stream of random digits, and say "4 is in there...
View ArticleAnswer by trichoplax is on Codidact now for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Outputting an expression instead of a numberFor example, outputting 3*3 instead of 9, or outputting 7/4 instead of 1.75.Unless the challenge explicitly allows expression output, the output should be in...
View ArticleAnswer by user45941 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Generating all possible functions/programs to solve a challengeIn this meta post, isaacg pointed out that, under current consensus, the following Python code (edited to fix a mistake) could possibly be...
View ArticleAnswer by Downgoat for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Output shall be non-trivial (e. g. not empty)Mainly targeting code-challenges where the score is determined by the output. This results in very boring, but valid, answers which tend to get upvoted...
View ArticleAnswer by Dennis for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Abusing native number types to trivialize a problemIt is common practice to restrict challenges to cases where input, output and/or intermediate values of the algorithm of choice fit into the...
View ArticleAnswer by jimmy23013 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using non-programming languages(irrelevant to "golfing" languages)Not to be confused with golfing languages. This loophole definitely has nothing to do with golfing languages.A purported programming...
View ArticleAnswer by TessellatingHeckler for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
A script invoking itself as a form of looping/recursion, where the filename has to be a specific namee.g. I answered a question with PowerShell which included sleep 1;t where the script had to be...
View ArticleAnswer by isaacg for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using a non-free language on a Cops and Robbers challengeMost (currently all) cops and robbers challenges consist of two parts:A cop submission, where a user posts some secret property of a program,...
View ArticleAnswer by mbomb007 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Creating a new compiler for a language after a challenge was postedThere is some debate arising from this answer. He created his own compiler for the C programming language that extends the language...
View ArticleAnswer by Dennis for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using prior knowledge to circumvent other loopholesIn particular, gaining an unfair advantage by inventing new languages for future challenges that are being sandboxed, discussed in chat, are your own,...
View ArticleAnswer by randomra for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Changing your username to fit a username dependent challengeChanging your username or registering a new one to make your score better in username or userID dependent challenges.
View ArticleAnswer by Dennis for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Zero-length quinesConsidering an empty program a quine was original in the 1994 IOCCC. Over two decades later, if you can answer a question with an empty program and that question is scored by length...
View ArticleAnswer by jimmy23013 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using MetaGolfScriptMetaGolfScript is a family of programming languages. For example, the empty program in MetaGolfScript-209180605381204854470575573749277224 prints "Hello, World!".It is similar to...
View ArticleAnswer by FUZxxl for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Compressing your source codeSome language provide builtin facilities to compress data and execute the result as source code. I consider this to be a standard loophole, especially when the challenge is...
View ArticleAnswer by Martin Ender for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Optimising for the given test casesThis applies to code-challenges and things like fastest-code, where you write some code that is measured by a criterion like runtime or size of your output (e.g. in...
View ArticleAnswer by Justin for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Suicidal entries to King-of-the-Hill challenges.EmoWolf was funny the first time, but it's gettingout of hand.While some not-too-serious answers are often necessary to kickstart a king-of-the-hill...
View ArticleAnswer by Christopher Wirt for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using lots of spaces to "hide" code out of bounds, especially in underhanded questions. This isn't very clever or tricky, in my opinion, and yet wins all too often.Example: #include...
View ArticleAnswer by Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Posting a code snippet instead of a complete answerNote: There is now a separate question covering this loophole in more detail.This is a issue mainly for code-golf, code-challenge and variants.Only in...
View ArticleAnswer by Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Outsourcing the real answerI still did not see people using this thing here in serious answers (just in some jokes ones), but already saw it being used seriously elsewhere. To circumvent restrictions...
View ArticleAnswer by Jonathan Van Matre for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Copying an (unimproved) answer from elsewhereIf it's not your own work, and you can't even try enough to golf or improve it, then it's not yours to post.
View ArticleAnswer by user10766 for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using built-in functions to do the workMathematica is a big one for this, with Fibonacci[n] to calculate the n'th Fibonacci number.... I have no objection to these being posted as a side note within...
View ArticleAnswer by ugoren for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using the program name to store data without counting those bytesExample - this bash script prints Hello World!echo $0Must be saved in a file called Hello World!.When using the filename to store data,...
View ArticleAnswer by Ilmari Karonen for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Using a made-up language specifically designed for the challengeThis includes any language with commands that "do whatever I choose them to do". Claiming that your answer is written in "MyOwnLanguage",...
View ArticleAnswer by Peter Taylor for Loopholes that are forbidden by default
Fetching the desired output from an external sourceThis includes doing an HTTP request to fetch the page with the question and extracting a solution from that page. This was mildly amusing back in...
View ArticleLoopholes that are forbidden by default
There are a number of standard loopholes which experienced question-setters seek to explicitly close. However, inexperienced question-setters may unintentionally leave them open, or respondents may try...
View ArticleAnswer by The Empty String Photographer for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Using MetaGolfScript in a polyglot challengeSo you write an answer in GolfScript. By definition, it will also work in all MetaGolfScript languages, of which there are infinitely many, allowing you to...
View ArticleAnswer by The Empty String Photographer for Loopholes that are forbidden by...
Making an OS specifically designed for the challengeIn this sandboxed challenge, it says you can use any environment you want. So I thought, what if you made a specific OS where the Python distribution...
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