Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

It's easier in some languages than others.

There is a delight in doing it, but don't overdo the anticipation. I've found greater delights in programming.



> It's easier in some languages than others.

Yes, it seems Lisp wouldn't be appropriate for this.


I tried typing `1` into the REPL. Am I doing this right?


Maybe. What sound did it make?


It was blue.


I believe that solution is possible for the Lisp-modified task description:

Write a cyclic quine that reproduces itself through 128 Lisp languages

because we easily have that many, or more.


I mean, isn't generating quines and twines one of the examples used to show of MiniKanren?

William Byrds presentations of MK are absolutely delightful, by the way.


Yes, it's quite easy in sh:

[update: same program also works in python and ruby]


Like refactoring someone else's code? So much fun.


You're teasing, but I understand the question so I'll answer.

I've had a good deal of joyous fun exploring quirky ideas with mathematics and software. It's old hat now, but back in 2011 I repurposed an algorithm primarily used for document classification by creating my own tokenization of features and stuffing it in there then running it through a ton of photographs, but forcing it to only 200 dimensions of freedom.

Since the algorithm didn't have room to fully separate dimensions, it had to start grouping photos together along dimensions that had to account for multiple topics. I'll never forget bursting out laughing as I explored one particular dimension that was "motorcycles...... and photos of women taken from street level aimed at their scantily clad behinds."

Collaborative filtering proved to me that some stereotypes really do have grounding in reality.

As for the quine stuff? I actually had more fun repurposing[0] some of the ideas for a letter to my MP about the dangers of electronic voting back in 2011 when it seemed possible that Canada was going to allow it at the federal level. I chuckled more at literally sending self-eating code to a presumable less technical politician than I did at getting something to repeat itself.

[0] https://github.com/zachaysan/darth_vader_wins_election




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: