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Synopsis

This book contains a variety of essays of interest to programs. From beginner to advanced, you'll find something of interest and amusement. But the gems of the book are the winners of the Obfuscated C Code Contest and their explanations.<p>I've been a programmer for many years and during that time had to look at, borrow, and maintain many programs that other people have written. To my dismay, not everyone writes the most readable code. (Surprised, eh?) In fact, some of the code is pretty awful. Some of it doesn't even look like code.<p>Fortunately, I'm not alone - and the Obfuscated C Code Contest was created to recognize such programs. Some of them are so awful to read, they're actually funny. Or you can treat them as puzzles to solve. Actually working some out is a real benefit - 1) introducing you to the dark corners of programming, and 2) you might very well have to deal with code like this one day, no matter what language you program in. Or just read the explanations and laugh.<p>Although all were written in C (well, sort of - a few bend the rules on that aspect), you'll find these amusing essays applicable to most languages. No matter what language you choose, there is always someone out there tormenting that language and being painfully creative - and when it lands on your desk, you are responsible. Entertain yourself now and protect yourself later!