31 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
31 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
# International Obfuscated C Code Contest
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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 and clever hacking that carries a great value. While the [productivity freaks](productivity_cult.md) will argue this is just a waste of time, the true programmer appreciates the depth of knowledge and creative thinking needed to develop a beautifully obfuscated program. The contest runs since 1984 and was started by Landon Curt Noll and Larry Bassel.
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Unfortunately some [shit](shit.md) is flying around 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 it makes sense.
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Hacking the rules of the contest is also encouraged and there is an extra award for "worst abuse of the rules".
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Some common ideas employed in the programs include:
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- formatting source code as [ASCII art](ascii_art.md)
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- misleading identifiers and comments
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- extreme [macro](macro.md)/[preprocessor](preprocessor.md) abuse
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- abuse of compiler flags
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- different behavior under different C standards
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- doing simple things the hard way, e.g. by avoiding loops
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- including weird files like `/dev/tty` or recursively including itself
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- [code golfing](code_golf.md)
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- weird stuff like the main function [recursion](recursion.md) or even using it as a signal handler :)
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And let us also mention a few winning entries:
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- program whose source code is taken from its file name (using `__FILE__`)
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- [ray tracer](ray_tracing.md) in < 30 LOC formatted as ASCII art
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- operating system with multi-tasking, GUI and filesystem support
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- neural [machine learning](machine_learning.md) on text in < 4KB
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- program printing "hello world" with error messages during compilation
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- [X11](x11.md) Minecraft-like game
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- [web browser](web_browser.md)
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- self-replicating programs
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