Krupski:
It's a big problem when someone wants to print a floating point number by doing it the standard way and ends up with a question mark.
So the effects create problems; that doesn't mean the cause is in itself, a problem. If I write a sketch that uses 3Kb SRAM and it doesn't work, I have a problem, but that doesn't make the memory limitation "the problem".
And the problem is solved by simply checking "on" the "Enable floating point support" option in Preferences.
I don't have that option in my Arduino IDE, so apparently, it's not that simple.
I fail to see how clicking a check box is "an awful lot of work"...
What happens when IDE changes break the "fix"? Where do I go to get the updated "fix"?
If anything is awful, it's using kludges of extra code to do what a simple "%f" would do.
Oh, yes I know. It would use a few extra bytes of flash and EVERYONE'S sketch is 32767 bytes long and they just can't spare any more.
Getting people to think about other ways to approach a problem and practice their problem solving skills through critical thinking is nothing to scoff at. Stuff like this also helps highlight the limitations of the hardware and encourages to think about it while they are writing their code.