Question: The site can not accept an answer complaining about badly formatted code.
I did all the 4 spaces thing, etc. And still after 3 hours the site did not accept my post.

Here is the copy of the answer I submitted initially: <http://pastebin.com/P2HfWyCZ>

Look, there is nothing strange about it, I used the {} at first, then switched to 

```
<pre><code>

```

and nothing worked.

This is annoying and unnecessary. Why so much CARE about formatting code?
Writing a "look here" + pastebin url seems like the most simple and workable approach, but defeats the purpose of stackoverflow

> 
> Oops! Your answer couldn't be submitted because:
> 
> 
> Your post appears to contain code that is not properly formatted as code. Please indent all code by 4 spaces using the code toolbar
>  button or the CTRL+K keyboard shortcut. For more editing help, click
>  the [?] toolbar icon.
> 
> 
>

Answer: 
I'm guessing that the issue was because you mixed a lot of code with English. For example:

---

Remember this are bitfields and & is the "bit and" operator NOT the
 boolean && GDK\_WINDOW\_STATE\_ICONIFIED =2 or 10 on binary and
 event->new\_window\_state is an int which second bit is active

A Widget can be both maximized AND minimized at the same time,
 GDK\_WINDOW\_STATE\_MAXIMIZED = 4 or 100

---

If you use the backtick (`) around inline code, it improves readability:

---

Remember this are bitfields and & is the "bit and" operator *not* the boolean `&&
GDK_WINDOW_STATE_ICONIFIED =2` or `10` on binary
and `event->new_window_state` is an `int` which second bit is active

A Widget can be both maximized *and* minimized at the same time,
`GDK_WINDOW_STATE_MAXIMIZED = 4` or `100`

---

I edited your answer to clean it up a bit... Compare [Your pastebin version](https://stackoverflow.com/revisions/8241865/3) with [the version I clean up for you](https://stackoverflow.com/revisions/8241865/5) and tell me if you think it's better having the answer on the site, formatted nicely.

> 
> This is annoying and unnecessary. Why so much CARE about formatting
>  code? Writing a "look here" + pastebin url seems like the most simple
>  and workable approach, but defeats the purpose of stackoverflow
> 
> 
> 

I disagree completely. It's really not that hard to format code properly. I'm sorry you're frustrated, but linking to a site where someone has to go to review the code is *not* a better solution in any way. 

What happens if the pastebin is deleted? Your answer becomes useless. What happens if you want to refer to the pastebin? I don't want to switch between tabs just to understand your answer. Also, doesn't it take *more* time to open pastebin, create a paste, and insert the link than it does to just paste code on So and click the "format as code" button?

I see no advantage to using pastebin. What I see is a new user who is frustrated... we're here to help! If you can learn [how Markdown formatting works](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/editing-help) you'll get *a lot more* enjoyment out of StackExchange.
I was able to post the exact same answer provided in the pastebin into a new answer without any problems ([10k+ only](https://stackoverflow.com/q/8242351/180239)).

I've also edited your answer to include the correct version.

> 
> Why so much CARE about formatting code?
> 
> 
> 

You must be new here...those filters originated out of necessity, not because some programmer felt funny. There are *many* quality filters at work in Stack Exchange, and every single one was introduced because it was *needed*.

**Edit:** On second thought, maybe it's a low-rep filter, which doesn't apply to me anymore.