Ten lines of code that changed my world
A developer shares ten nostalgic, humorous, or foundational code snippets that shaped their programming journey, from 6502 assembly hacks to 280-character CSS poems.
summary is enough A light and entertaining nostalgia trip that is quick to read, though the comment thread sharing other programmers' formative snippets is the real highlight.
summary
The author presents ten memorable code snippets that defined their path in software development, ranging from early Hello World experiences and 6502 machine code hacks to quirky batch scripts and minimalist CSS art. Each snippet highlights a specific milestone, realization, or joke that captured the wonder or absurdity of coding. The article serves as a nostalgic look at how small pieces of syntax or logic can alter a programmer's worldview. The comment thread expands on this by inviting readers to share their own formative code memories.
key points
- Includes low-level milestones like self-modifying 6502 assembly and memory PEEK and POKE tricks for infinite video game lives.
- Features quirky developer utilities and humor, such as a Windows batch file for touch and a classic CSS hotpink layout debugger.
- Spans decades of computing culture, ending with a modern 280-character pure CSS animated poem.
who should read it
Software engineers and hobbyist programmers looking for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
discussion warm
consensus
Commenters thoroughly enjoy the nostalgia and eagerly chime in with their own formative code snippets, ranging from classic BASIC loops to Lisp macros and fork bombs.
pushback
A technical debate quickly arose over the author's CSS debugger snippet, with commenters arguing that using CSS borders instead of outlines destroys page layouts.
Hmm. What a great question.
while(1) { fork(); }
Must have meant something to me, because it was in my Usenet sig. And then:
exit(main(kfp->kargc, argv, environ));
from FreeBSD crt0; kind of a big moment for me to realize there was more C code underneath main().
Then:
statements: /*E*/ | statement statements
The moment Yacc clicked for me; that line was profound but a more accurate depiction of the moment was realizing that all you were doing with the parser generator was building a tree, and that's what the side effects of each production were for: returning and plugging in tree …
It provides a rich, veteran developer's parallel list of profound code snippets that capture key conceptual breakthroughs in systems programming.
Generated by an LLM from the article and thread. Check the sources before relying on it.