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Questions that ask for code conversion are generally not appropriate.

Example: convert menu javascript code in to jquery

However, what should be the close reason for such a question?

Is it off topic?
It is about programming but the OP is just asking people to do the work for him and he doesn't care about why or how things work.

Is it unclear what you're asking?
It is clear that he wants people to do the work for him. It even includes the codes to be converted. The only thing missing is the question. There is no question but a task to be completed.

Is it too broad?
It is too localized. It is unlikely to help future visitors. It is only relevant for the OP. Or maybe it is too broad because there could be many possible answers achieving the same goal?

Is it primarily opinion based?
It doesn't solicit opinions. It's just a mundane task of code translation.

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    I usually go with off-topic. We're not a code conversion service, even if the translation request is formulated as a question.
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Apr 8, 2013 at 16:59
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    I'm surprised it isn't closed yet! Normally question that get onto the meta do not take long to close
    – Hugo Dozois
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:12
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    @HugoDozois Because we are not sure what should be the close reason yet. Once that's figured out, it will be closed in no time.
    – Antony
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:13
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    Looks like Will♦ has made the decision: too localized
    – Antony
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:21
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    I think this question needs to be revisited in light of the new close reasons. What about stackoverflow.com/questions/21359201/…?
    – John Saunders
    Jan 26, 2014 at 3:56
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    Given that none of the preferred answers to this question exist any more... what's the currently preferred reason to close translation requests?
    – David Berry
    Jan 7, 2015 at 17:19

4 Answers 4

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off topic

I definitely think that the question relates to programming and software development.

not constructive

While the answer isn't supported by facts or references, it does lack effort. This one is pretty close.

not a real question

We can easily tell what is being asked.

too localized

This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. For help making this question more broadly applicable, see the FAQ.

I think the best reason here as that it only applies to the OP and will not help future visitors.

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    Disagree, do you really think no one has ever tried getting menu code from JS into jQuery before and might find a few helpful elements in there?
    – djechlin
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:17
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    I don't think that. However, it is an "extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet."
    – Kermit
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:23
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    @djechlin If the question is worded such that an answer is describing how you approach the problem of taking a menu from JS and converting it to use jQuery then yes, it's not too localized. When the question is, "here is a bunch of code, give me this specific solution of mine in JQuery" and an expected answer is nothing but their code, then it's TL. If you can ensure that an answer could actually be useful to others then it's not TL, and may very well be a question that shouldn't be closed at all. In practice, a significant percentage of them really are TL.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:26
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    What is the close reason nowadays?
    – Tim Schmelter
    Sep 29, 2015 at 7:56
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I think you answered your question here:

Is it not a real question?

That really isn't a question at all. He just asks people to do the work for him.

More generally we're working on improving what NC/NARQ mean; it is true that at present NARQ is a bit of a catch all. See here.

Too localized sounds to be moving toward deprecation, or at least should apply more to questions whose answers are soon to be rendered obsolete. See here.

But in general, if multiple close reasons apply, just pick one. That happens often. Try to leave a constructive comment explaining how the post might be improved (see discussion regarding NC/NARQ above for this problem).

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    I voted you above 1k! Congrats!
    – Andrew Barber
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:26
  • @AndrewBarber A true gentleman and scholar.
    – Kermit
    Apr 9, 2013 at 13:51
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Personally I think either NARQ, or TL would work for this.

Not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

If someone is asking you to translate their code for them the question is usually both ambiguous and overly broad. As everyone will tell you, there are many ways of doing the same thing in programming.

Too Localized

This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. For help making this question more broadly applicable, see the FAQ.

Questions asking you to translate their code aren't usually going to help future visitors. This adds to the fact that these questions are usually ambiguous and vague.

You could also use not constructive, though I myself prefer "Not a real question".

Not constructive

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

  • "This question is not a good fit for our Q/A format

Questions asking for code translation aren't a specific question, rather a very broad job that will require cooperation between the translator and OP.

  • ..but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion.

As I said earlier, there are man ways to accomplish the same thing in programming making questions like these open to discussion and arguing about the best way to do it.

Since almost all the close reason fit these questions (a big give away that they don't belong here) it would be nice to have an official decision made on the subject.

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  • Such questions aren't broad or ambiguous. "Give me a program that produces the same output as this exact code" is in fact very specific, clear, and leaves less room for ambiguity than almost any other possible question. That you can do it multiple ways is irrelevant, so long as they work. It's also not subjective. Either a program does the same thing as the code it's being translated from, and is valid, or it doesn't, and so it isn't. There is nothing subjective about that. What it is is "too localized", since it's not likely to be applicable to anyone else.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:21
  • @Servy I agree that well written translation questions aren't ambiguous or vague, but these questions are almost never well written. A question "Translate this C code to Python for me" is both ambiguous and vague.
    – ɥʇǝS
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:27
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    How so? Either the python code does what the posted C code does, or it doesn't. If you aren't able to determine what the C code does then you're simply not qualified. For someone sufficiently knowledgeable about C they'll know exactly what it does when given the code. They don't need to know what it's supposed to do, what the OP expects it to do, what the user wants it to do, or what would be some ideal "best" solution might be. All they need to know is what the C code does, and that's entirely unambiguous and in no way vague.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:29
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Although they all might be good reasons, I usually don't answer such "questions" because they are not constructive. The Question itself is not constructive, since it sounds more like a demand for work and often with insufficient pre-effort of the questioner. And it doesn't give room for constructive answers, because code conversions normally hold countless possibilities.

The only "close reason" that may inappropriate could be the too localized. That reason is used too often (for my taste), because who are the "judges" that vote for closing, to decide whether this question might be helpful for other users in the future or not.

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    I highly disagree. They're very constructive questions. There is a highly effective entirely objective measure for whether or not a given answer is valid. (Just execute the program and compare the input with that of the original.) That you could write a solution in more than one way doesn't make it "not constructive". You can provide multiple different valid solutions for any possible question, ever. The difference between a question that's not constructive is that it requires multiple answers, rather than simply allowing them.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:14
  • I agree with the first part. These questions aren't questions in the sense that they don't have a specific problem to be solved. IMO though NARQ is a better close reason than TL.
    – ɥʇǝS
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:17
  • @Servy: You are right, I might have overrated the room for constructive answers. IMHO the lacking "constructiveness" of the question is more important.
    – GameDroids
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:18
  • @GameDroids There is no lacking of constructiveness in the question. These are among the most constructive questions you could possibly ask. The problems with them are that they are almost always too localized, and that they generally don't represent sufficient effort on the part of the asker in terms of research and effort trying to solve their own problem. That has nothing to do with constructiveness.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:23
  • @Servy Ok, I think you convinced me that the not constructive reason might not be the most appropriate. But if the question would be constructive for a good Q&A and if it leaves much room for a good discussion about (subjectively or objectively) "better" ways of implementation, how could such a question be too localized and be unlikely to help any future visitors? Even if the code that is to be translated is very specific, it still might be modifiable and reusable in the future.
    – GameDroids
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:33
  • @GameDroids In actual practice, the vast majority of these types of questions involve code that nobody else is going to have to need to translate, which is what makes it too localized. If it seems reasonable that others would need to translate the same thing (or something sufficiently close that an answer would be useful) then it wouldn't be TL. The other problem with such questions is they often lack sufficient effort in terms of research or trying to solve their own problem. If that's also not the case, then the question just shouldn't be closed. Such cases won't be common, but can happen.
    – Servy
    Apr 8, 2013 at 17:35

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