There are also programs known as Obfuscators that may operate on source code, Object Code , or both, for the purpose of deterring Reverse Engineering .
Code is sometimes obfuscated deliberately for recreational purposes. There are programming contests which reward the most creatively obfuscated code: the International Obfuscated C Code Contest , Obfuscated Perl Contest , International Obfuscated Ruby Code Contest and Obfuscated PostScript Contest .
There are many varieties of interesting obfuscations ranging from simple keyword substitution, use/non-use of whitespace to create artistic effects, to clever self-generating or heavily compressed programs.
Short obfuscated Perl programs printing " Just Another Perl Hacker " or something like that are often found in Signatures of Perl programmers.
Take this infamous example from Internet Lore :
#include
- a;{return!0
main(-86,0,a+1)+a)):1,t<_?main(t+1,_,a):3,main(-94,-27+t,a)&&t==2?_<13?
main(2,_+1,"%s %d %d
"):9:16:t<0?t<-72?main(_,t,
- {}w+/w#cdnr/+,{}r/---de}+,/---{---+,/w{%+,/w#q#n+,/#{l,+,/n{n+,/+#n+,/#\
- +,/'r :'d---'3,}{w+K w'K:'+}e#';dq#'l \
q#'+d'K#!/+k#;q#'r}eKK#}w'r}eKK{nl]'/#;#q#n'){)#}w'){){nl]'/+#n';d}rw' i;# \
){nl]!/n{n#'; r{#w'r nc{nl]'/#{l,+'K {rw' iK{; {Link without Title} '/w#q#n'wk nw' \
- {q#'ld;r'}{nlwb!/---de}'c \
- }#nc,',#nw]'/+kd'+e}+;#'rdq#w! nr'/ ') }+}{rl#'{n' ')# \
}'+}##(!!/")
- A?PUTCHAR(31 {LINK WITHOUT TITLE} ):MAIN(-65,_,A+1):MAIN((---A
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E) printf("_") for((A-=Z=!Z) (printf("
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Z[A-(E =A[J-Z])&&!C
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"T[E]=T[A]]=E,J[T[A]=A-Z]=A,"_":"" class="copylinks" target="_blank">" }
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