The International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC for short) is an annual online contest in making the most creatively [obfuscated](obfuscation.md) programs in [C](c.md). It's kind of a "just for [fun](fun.md)" thing but similarly to [esoteric languages](esolang.md) there's an element of [art](art.md) and clever [hacking](hacking.md) that carries a high value. While the [productivity freaks](productivity_cult.md) will undeniably argue this is nothing more than a waste of time, the true programmer appreciates the depth of knowledge and creative thinking required to develop a beautifully obfuscated program. The contest has been around since 1984 and was started by Landon Curt Noll and Larry Bassel.
Unfortunately some [shit](shit.md) is surrounding IOCCC too, for example confusing licensing -- having a [CC-BY-SA](cc_by_sa.md) license in website footer and explicitly prohibiting commercial use in the text, WTF? Also the team started to use [Microshit](microsoft.md)'s [GitHub](github.md). They also allow latest [capitalist](capitalist_software.md) C standards, but hey, this is a contest focused on ugly C, so perhaps that makes sense after all.
