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I observed some questions that got answered within 2 to 4 minutes (by looking at asked time and answered time), inspite of the answers being long (more than 20 lines). How is this possible?

Sometimes, even programming questions are getting answers (with code) within 2 minutes. Are asked and answered times accurate? Am I interpreting the asked and answered times correctly?

Is it possible that the answered field only records the "creation timestamp" of the answer (and not capture later edits)?

Look at this old post, the first answer to which is extremely detailed and context-sensitive. Do the "timestamps" look ok?

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    Could you link an example of such a question please?
    – Ben N
    Sep 2, 2016 at 1:40
  • in regards to your example, don't forget that it has been edited a few times and it's best to check the original version which is much much smaller
    – Memor-X
    Sep 2, 2016 at 2:23
  • in regards to your recent edit, yes the timestamp above the username in the bottom right is when the answer was created and does not change (except for formatting like "answered 1 hour ago" to a date). then on it's left you have when it was last edit, and if it was by another user, their user name and this reflects the most recent edit
    – Memor-X
    Sep 2, 2016 at 2:35

2 Answers 2

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They write an initial shorter version which is then expanded upon later usually. If you know your subject well you can just type in what you want to say.

In addition edits within the first few minutes are simply added to the original post without creating new revisions. That could have happened here and there would be no way to tell short of asking the poster if they remember doing that. I've done that on this answer for instance.

The answer you link to looked like this when it was first posted i.e. much shorter and without the picture. It was then modified a further 18 times to reach its current state.

There is also a timeline facility that shows what happened to a post and when it happened

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  • Thanks. I will keep an eye on newer posts. I will update in this thread if I see any abnormalities.
    – blackpen
    Sep 2, 2016 at 2:47
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    The answer is yes. I do remember making multiple "ninja" edits to that. But I don't remember the details anymore since that was 4 years ago.
    – Mysticial
    Sep 2, 2016 at 2:52
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    @blackpen The site makes much more sense when you think of it as wikified Q&As rather than threads (which is terminology more often associated with discussion forums).
    – PolyGeo
    Sep 2, 2016 at 4:50
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It's worth pointing out that code in answers could be existing code. I know I have answered questions with what would look like a relatively large amount of code that I happened to already have written—so what looks like a long answer could only have taken 2 minutes to compose.

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