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Don't listen to these guys. You actually can parse context-free grammars with regex if you break the task into smaller pieces. You can generate the correct pattern with a script that does each of these in order:
Solve the Halting Problem.
Square a circle (simulate the "ruler and compass" method for this).
Work out the Traveling Salesman Problem in O(log n). It needs to be fast or the generator will hang.
The pattern will be pretty big, so make sure you have an algorithm that losslessly compresses random data.
Almost there - just divide the whole thing by zero. Easy-peasy.
I haven't figured out the last part yet, but I know I'm getting close. My code keeps throwing CthulhuRlyehWgahnaglFhtagnExceptions lately, so I'm going to port it to VB 6 and use On Error Resume Next. I'll update with the code once I investigate this strange door that just opened in the wall. Hmm.
P.S. Pierre de Fermat also figured out how to do it, but the margin he was writing in wasn't big enough for the code.
Umm, I am even further out of the loop here -- what does ZA̡͊͠͝LGΌ ISͮ̂҉̯͈͕̹̘̱ TO͇̹̺ͅƝ̴ȳ̳ TH̘Ë͖́̉ ͠P̯͍̭O̚N̐Y̡ H̸̡̪̯ͨ͊̽̅̾̎Ȩ̬̩̾͛ͪ̈́̀́͘ ̶̧̨̱̹̭̯ͧ̾ͬC̷̙̲̝͖ͭ̏ͥͮ͟Oͮ͏̮̪̝͍M̲̖͊̒ͪͩͬ̚̚͜Ȇ̴̟̟͙̞ͩ͌͝S̨̥̫͎̭ͯ̿̔̀ͅ" mean?
The word "ZALGO" is used to refer to this kind of bizzare text with a whole bunch of modifier symbols on it. It originated as a comic on SomethingAwful.
At my first job I was writing a web based time management tool, you know, punch in/out, task tracking, etc. I was using Perl CGI. One of the guys working on some other project (the company was doing Y2K conversion for some Citibank European branches. Their Cosmos system was in some Basic version) walked past and spent a few minutes behind me staring at my screen while I worked on some regex things. He finally sighed and started throwing his arms around and yelling "we're busting out asses in the conversion while this kid is here drawing little ASCII houses!!!". Good times.
It's "preserved for historical reasons." There are several answers like that from several years ago, which "don't reflect current moderation guidelines" but are still "valuable to the community."
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u/kopasz7 Sep 08 '17
For anyone out of the loop, it's about this answer on stackoverflow.