Re: [PLUG] Self-printing programs are easy to write

[Toby DiPasquale <toby@cbcg.net>]

On Tue, Oct 18, 2005 at 01:25:26PM -0400, Mark Dominus wrote:
> A popular pasttime of programmers is to write a program that prints
> out its own source code.  Solutions to this problem are more or less
> contrived.  But a deep theorem of computer science says that this is
> no trick.

This is how most VB-based email viruses operate. They add the component of
obfuscating or even encrypting their source, muddying the waters between A
and B below. I have yet to see this technique used seriously outside of 
malware, however, with the possible exception of Lisp macros (a built-in 
quine, if you will). This pops up every couple of years, but has anyone
used or heard of a use for this outside of theorem proving?

-- 
Toby DiPasquale
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