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296 points reverseCh | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.215s | source

I recently came across the concept of "useless" programs - pieces of code that serve no practical purpose but are fun, creative, or challenging to write. These could be anything from elaborate ASCII art generators to programs that solve imaginary problems. I'm curious to hear about the most interesting or creative "useless" programs the HN community has written. What was your motivation? What unexpected challenges did you face? Did you learn anything valuable from the experience? Some examples to get the ball rolling: 1. A program that prints the lyrics of "99 Bottles of Beer" in binary. A text-based game where you play as a semicolon trying to find its way to the end of a line of code. A script that translates English text into Shakespearean insults. Share your creations, no matter how quirky or impractical. Let's celebrate the joy of coding for coding's sake!
1. brown ◴[] No.41919749[source]
I highly recommend js13k (https://js13kgames.com), an annual game jam where your entire game must fit in 13 kilobytes. The tight size limit forces you to get creative with optimization - think procedural generation, custom minimal engines, and code golf techniques that actually matter. While the games might be "useless" in a practical sense, you'll learn more about low-level JavaScript optimization than from most serious projects, all while being part of an incredibly supportive community that loves sharing tricks and tips.