I'm curious, because some answers seem to be posted regardless of the winning answer. Should non-competitive answers be posted when better answers exist for entries of the same language?
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3\$\begingroup\$ Yes. Even if the solution doesn't win, different methods might be interesting. \$\endgroup\$– Addison CrumpCommented Jun 5, 2017 at 18:25
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1\$\begingroup\$ Yes, absolutely. Part of the appeal of this site is seeing how other people approach the same problem in the same language using a different method, whether it be shorter or longer than your solution and can also, quite often, provide inspiration for solutions to future challenges. \$\endgroup\$– ShaggyCommented Jun 5, 2017 at 19:38
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\$\begingroup\$ Related. \$\endgroup\$– user62131Commented Jun 5, 2017 at 23:33
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\$\begingroup\$ Related, possible dupe \$\endgroup\$– user45941Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 2:07
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\$\begingroup\$ IMHO it's always fine for anyone to answer any question. \$\endgroup\$– Steve BennettCommented Jun 7, 2017 at 23:36
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\$\begingroup\$ To clarify, you're talking about answers that are definitely not going to win, but show effort? \$\endgroup\$– RikerCommented Jun 8, 2017 at 4:35
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Doing this is reasonable if the answer is significantly different
If straightforward golfing on your answer would transform it into an answer that already exists, it's not adding anything to the question.
On the other hand, if your answer has any sort of significant difference (faster or simply different algorithm, avoiding a specific cheat that's legal according to the question, using a particular subset of the language, etc.), then feel free to post it; if we want answers in more than one language (and we do), I can't see why we wouldn't also want multiple distinct answers in the same language.
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\$\begingroup\$ This, on occasion I've even posted a new answer to the same challenge, in the same language when its approach is entirely different. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 14:09
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\$\begingroup\$ Also probably worth noting about the per language leader board. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 14:13
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\$\begingroup\$ @TheLethalCoder the per language leader board? (What exactly is that?) \$\endgroup\$– TezraCommented Jun 8, 2017 at 18:50
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\$\begingroup\$ What it says on the tin. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 8, 2017 at 23:58
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\$\begingroup\$ @Tezra Some challenges include leader boards in them, this includes a per language and lowest count overall. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 8:14
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\$\begingroup\$ @TheLethalCoder Maintained by the OP or SE? \$\endgroup\$– TezraCommented Jun 9, 2017 at 12:16
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\$\begingroup\$ @Tezra It's a fiddle, see here for an example. (No particular reason I picked that just the first one I cam across) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 12:19