Quoting the JargonFile: : An annual contest run since 1984 over Usenet by Landon Curt Noll and friends. The overall winner is whoever produces the most unreadable, creative, and bizarre (but working) CeeLanguage program; various other prizes are awarded at the judges' whim. C's terse syntax and macro-preprocessor facilities give contestants a lot of maneuvering room. The winning programs often manage to be simultaneously (a) funny, (b) breathtaking works of art, and (c) horrible examples of how not to code in C. Home page at http://www.ioccc.org/ ---- A personal favorite: "Most Ambiguous Language" - 2005 #define aSet c #define BufferedReader(x)1 #define byte Y[I][_^1]?do(:):_&1?do(.):do(`):8;++y;} #define class int N=0,_,O=328,l=192,y=4,Y[80][64]={0},I;struct #define do(c)a(#c "\b") #define err c,c #define getAllStrings(x));q() #define if(x)b(#x) #define IOException #define line c #define main(a)b(char*x){write(1,"\033[",2),null}main() #define new #define null a(x);}a(char*x){write(1,x,strlen(x));try;try;try;try; #define out c,c #define println(x)c #define private int d(int #define public short c;}c;typedef int BufferedReader;char*F="JF>:>FB;;BII"; #define return {return #define static f(x){N=(N+x)%6,y--?f(0),f(1),f(4),f(1):++Y[(I=O+N[F]-66) #define String #define System c #define this if(D):1,O=I,I/=16,l<_/32?if(B):l>_/32?if(A):2,l=_,_/=16,byte #define throws #define toArray(x)c #define try for(;--c.c;) #define void /16][(_=l+N[6+F]-66)/16]?O/=16,l/=32,OI/16?this #define while(k)if(2J),if(7;21H),f(0),f(4),f(4),if(H),/* import java.io.*; import java.util.*; /** * A lame Java program. * @author J. Random Worker */ class LameJavaApp { /** The infamous Long-Winded Signature From Hell. */ public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException { /* Don't get me started on this. */ BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(args[0])); /* What, this long incantation just to print a string? */ System.err.println("Hello world!"); /* At least this is sane. */ String line; while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) System.out.println(line.length()); } /** * Method with a needlessly long name. * @param aSet a set (!) */ private String[] getAllStrings(Set aSet) { /* * This dance is needed even in J2SE 5, which has type * templates. It was worse before that. */ return aSet.toArray(new String[0]); } } - JasonEspinosa ---- See ObfuscatedCee ---- CategoryCee