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From: thau@h-sc1.UUCP (robert thau)
Newsgroups: net.bizarre
Subject: Re: Bizarre Code
Message-ID: <533@h-sc1.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Aug-85 00:00:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: h-sc1.533
Posted: Thu Aug 15 00:00:58 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Aug-85 05:38:57 EDT
References: <462@moncol.UUCP>
Organization: Harvard Univ. Science Center
Lines: 35

> What is the most bizarre line/piece of code you have seen in a production
> program?
> 
> Name:		John Ruschmeyer

I'm working in a bio lab which is heavily computer-based (computers control
the experiments and do all the analysis).  The programs are written by local
people, who are biologists, not programmers.  This results in a few real
gems.  (Note:  The lab uses Whitesmith's C, with its hopelessly braindamaged
library.  I've translated where appropriate):

To null-terminate a string terminated by newline:

	register char *cp;
	...

	cp = index(s, '\n');
	/* Note lack of error-check */
	strcpy(cp, "\0\0");

To set cp to be four characters from the end of string s:

	/* This is O(n^2) */
	for (cp = s; strlen(cp) > 4; cp++) ;

To output an escape sequence (never mind why ...):

	printf("%c%c", '\033', 'F');

etc.
-- 
Robert Thau			        \
Keeper of the *FLAME*			))
rst@tardis.ARPA			       ( (
h-sc1%thau@harvard.ARPA			\\