https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=R1pp3rj4ckexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-05-15T18:53:04ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1960:_Code_Golf&diff=1531031960: Code Golf2018-02-26T13:51:17Z<p>R1pp3rj4ck: /* Explanation */ variable names to function names as they're functions</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1960<br />
| date = February 26, 2018<br />
| title = Code Golf<br />
| image = code_golf.png<br />
| titletext = I also enjoy Reverse Regular Golf. I've been playing for years all across the country and I'm still on the first hole.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic refers to {{w|code golf}}, the idea of using as few characters as possible to achieve your code goal, similar to how in {{w|golf|regular golf}}, the goal is to get to the end with as few strokes as possible. Reverse code golf would be to use as many characters as possible, which he does in the code example with overly long function names that are [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moby-Dick/Chapter_1 the beginning lines] of {{w|Herman Melville}}'s notoriously long-winded whaling novel ''{{w|Moby-Dick}}''. <br />
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Code golf is a game among programmers where contestants try to solve a given problem or challenge with as little code as possible (usually decided by measuring the program in bytes). In the comic's version, Reverse Code Golf, the object is to complete some mundane task in as many bytes as possible, hence the ridiculously long method and variable names. Instead of {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}, one could use {{w|JSFuck}} though, which is valid {{w|JavaScript}} code - but written with only six different characters. Even mundane variable names like <code>LowestDenominator</code> will take up hundreds, if not thousands, of bytes in JSFuck.<br />
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Additionally, the first two functions defined implement “zero” and “successor”, the two basic operations of {{w|Peano axioms|Peano arithmetic}}. Presumably, the programmer will next implement natural number addition, then integers, then whichever branches of mathematics the original problem needs, all from scratch.<br />
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The title text refers to the concept of "Reverse Golf", a variation on golf where the aim is to take as many strokes as possible to get the ball in the hole.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[ Program text in a black box ]<br />
:define callMeIshmaelSomeYearsAgoNeverMindHowLongPrecisely():<br />
::return 0<br />
:define havingLittleOrNoMoneyInMyPurseAndNothingParticular(toInterestMeOnShoreIThoughtIWouldSail):<br />
::return 1+toInterestMeOnShoreIThoughtIWouldSail<br />
:define aLittleAndSeeTheWateryPartOfTheWorld(<br />
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Caption under the black box: My hobby: Reverse Code Golf<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:My Hobby]]</div>R1pp3rj4ck