Files
ioccc/2004
Landon Curt Noll 0bc6c3e413 improve markdown references to FAQ entries
We quasi-canonicalized markdown links to FAQ entries.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**: This is a useful step in completing issue #2417.  This commit is consistent with the top level TODO comment requirements.  Nevertheless, this changes made by this commit needs to be examined and in some cases improved.

A link to an FAQ entry is of the form:

```
FAQ on "[the link text](....faq.html#string)"
    FAQ on "[the link text](....faq.html#string)"
```

The "FAQ" is at the start of the line, or in rare cases is preceded only by whitespace.

The reference to the FAQ starts outside of the markdown link with the string **FAQ ON "**.

After the markdown link is a **"** followed by either the end of line or a single punctuation character such as a period or comma.

We reduced the size of "the link text" that refer to an FAQ to at most 3 words.  In some cases the sentence and/or text surrounding the markdown link to a FAQ may need to be further adjusted to better accommodate this new style.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**: References to a FAQ entry are on a separate line.

p.s. When linking to the `faq.html` file itself, we use markdown of the form "`the [IOCCC FAQ](..../faq.html)`" and place the word "the" outside of the "IOCCC FAQ" link text.

Given the above system (and because references to an FAQ entry is on a separate line), the following command shows links to FAQ entries, sorted by FAQ entry "link #name" so that one may evaluate the way a given FAQ entry is referenced:

```sh
find * -name '*.md' -print0 | xargs0 grep -E '^[[:space:]]*FAQ on "' | sed -e 's/^\([^:]*\):\( *FAQ on "[^#]*\)#\([^)]*\)\()".*\)$/#\3\t\1\t\2#\3\4/' | sort
```

The above command shows the value of consistency when it comes to FAQ references.

**NOTE**: There are a few differences on how a given FAQ is references.  That is probably OK as there is NOT an "total mandate" that all references to a given FAQ must have the same "link text" for example.  On the other hand if references to a given FAQ can be identical, that might be helpful.  We are certain that in some contexts the "link text" might need to change.

Should we decide to change the way FAQ are referenced, we will be able to modify identify and modify them with greater ease.'

Examine the changes made by this commit and adjust and/or improve as needed.

Performed `make www` to accomplish the above and to test under macOS.
2024-07-17 03:11:19 -07:00
..
2024-06-07 02:10:24 -07:00
2023-10-07 04:35:47 -07:00
2023-10-07 04:35:47 -07:00

Seventeenth International Obfuscated C Code Contest

Standard IOCCC stuff

View the index.html web page for the given winning entry for information on how on how to compile the entry and how to run the winning program. Look at the winning source and try to figure how it does what it does! You may then wish to look at the Author's remarks for even more details.

Some ANSI C compilers are not quite as good as they should be. If yours is lacking, you may need to compile using gcc instead of your local compiler.

The IOCCC has a website and now has a number of international mirrors. The primary website can be found at https://www.ioccc.org/.

Remarks on some of the entries

We believe you will be impressed with this year's winning entries. The Best of Show is a fine example of obfuscation. But don't ignore the other entries! There are games, utilities, programs that output images and a one-liner that is incredibly compact for what it can do.

The Best abuse of the guidelines is technically allowed by the rules. This year we allowed it due to the functionality of the program. This entry is one of the easiest to read! Don't assume you can win using similar techniques next time ... :-)

This year a single person won two awards! We also had repeat authors with their 6th, 4th and 2nd winning entries this year! (Please note that judging is done completely anonymously. Be warned that we may disqualify entries that reveal the identity of the submitter.)

Remarks on some losing entries

There were some outstanding entries that did not win. Unfortunately some very good entries lost because they:

  • depended too much on non-portable side effects in expressions; and/or
  • depended too much on a particular byte order; and/or
  • required the use of a special script, data file or pseudo-machine language that was not supplied with the entry.

We hope the authors of some of those entries will fix and re-submit them for the next IOCCC.

Final Comments

IMPORTANT NOTE: See contact.html for up to date contact details as well as details on how to provide fixes to any of the entries. See also the IOCCC FAQ for additional information on the IOCCC.