'Solved By' versus 'Posted By'

[pim.pg]

Solved By = n, should technically mean n distinct users have solved the problem. This is not necessarily true especially for me for the first 100 problems, since I solve and re-solve the first 100 problems and post answers over and over again from sometimes different accounts. This is because I keep solving the first 100 problems in different programming languages for time-pass. Now, I am learning Pascal ABC.NET and it is a beautiful language, so I reset progress and re-enter answers all over again.

Strictly speaking the number in the 'Solved By' column is actually 'Correct Answer Posted By'. There could be double counting due to 'Reset Progress' or users using accounts like 'pe_pascal', 'pe_ocaml' etc. So, should we rename 'Solved By' to 'Posted By' since this captures the situation more correctly?

[pjt33]

In what way is it more accurate? The number of distinct people who have posted the correct answer is still (usually) going to be fewer than the number of accounts which have the tick. (There are further subtleties with problem contributors not being counted towards the solvers even though they have submitted the correct answer).

[pim.pg]

Instead of claiming that we have the accurate number of distinct solvers, we will simply be claiming that the correct answer was posted n times, where n could be greater than m (the true number of distinct solvers). So, I think 'Posted By' more accurately captures the meaning of the number in the column, than 'Solved By'.

[pjt33]

Instead of claiming that we have the accurate number of distinct solvers, we will simply be claiming that the correct answer was posted n times

If "solved by" implies that it counts distinct posters, "posted by" implies that it counts distinct posters.

[skoczian]

"Right solutions entered" seems a correct description, but it's a bit long.

[euler]

The "Solved By" refers to the number of accounts that currently have that problem with a solved status. If progress is reset, then on the next update, those values will change accordingly. Accounts are anonymous, so we don't track individuals. If members have multiple accounts, which they are free to do, it is still true that problem X has been solved by Y accounts.

[pim.pg]

Thanks Euler for the clarification. So theoretically after an update the number in the 'Solved By' could reduce if enough accounts reset the progress or deleted (possibly duplicate accounts), and no new accounts posted the correct answer during this update period. I was under the impression that solved by was some counter ticking only upwards, instead of being freshly computed once every update period.

[euler]

All of data are updated and re-cached at different points to ensure that they reflect the current statistics. Some data, like the "solved by" on the Archive and Recent pages is calculated in real time, but other data, like some of the statistics pages, are updated every 12 hours.