My code keeps throwing CthulhuRlyehWgahnaglFhtagnExceptions

[Gilberreke]

Sometimes we want to laugh, but Stack Overflow is just so very serious.

[Azdoine]

And normal techspeak seemed eldritch enough...

[garrak_x86]

I guess he should have used

Code: Select all

<([a-z]+)[^>]+?(?<!/)>

People tend to abuse the regex engine a lot ;) understand the requirement first, after that the pattern isn't such a big deal (if it is - yeah, don't use it...)

filed under: nerdy and offtopic
//edit: actually messed up, negation is annoying.

[Gilberreke]

I don't think you get the joke :(

[garrak_x86]

I do, and i laughed the first time i read it.
Especially since i have been asked exactly this kind of questions plenty times.

But it wouldn't have happend with linux anyway.
</cthulhu>

[warmist]

Must have been a miscalculation of "Dho-Nha" curve...

[Gilberreke]

I do, and i laughed the first time i read it.
Especially since i have been asked exactly this kind of questions plenty times.

But it wouldn't have happend with linux anyway.
</cthulhu>

Not sure what Linux has to do with a cthulu joke, but okay...

For reference, this comment is the main source of humor:

Don't listen to these guys. You actually can parse context-free grammars with regex if you break the task into smaller pieces. Your pattern needs to do each of these in order:

Solve the Halting Problem.
Square a circle (use the "ruler and compass" method for this).
Work out the Traveling Salesman Problem in O(log n). It needs to be fast or your regex engine will hang.
The results will be pretty big, so make sure you have another 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 it shouldn't be hard. My code keeps throwing CthulhuRlyehWgahnaglFhtagnExceptions lately, so I'm setting up an empty catch block to just consume those and keep parsing. I'll update with the code once I investigate this strange door that just opened in the wall. Hmm.

Pierre de Fermat also figured out how to do it, but the margin he was writing in wasn't big enough for the code.

[FlowerChild]

Do I get a cookie for at least knowing that I don't know enough about the subject matter to get the humor? ;)

[Gilberreke]

Do I get a cookie for at least knowing that I don't know enough about the subject matter to get the humor? ;)

Sure, but it's only a cookie in non-Euclidean dimensions

[garrak_x86]

Well, there are multiple jokes for me in that topic, depends on the view you take. And sure, given the topic the one you referenced is the one that pops to mind :)

Linux has nothing to do with the joke you quoted, it's just another common rant which by now has been brought to the point of ridicule, a reference to the background why the quoted answer even exists - that's why the cthulhu tag is closed now ;). I don't think i can pull a clear response at this hour :D

My first answer was somewhat intended as a pun to the "serious" part of the thread, by now i realised that's not something i can use at random. I just assumed you wanted to start some sort of discussion about something and i guessed the topic - which is madness anyway... Right now it seems more of a "lol, have a laugh at this stuff" thing which suits off-topic anyways. How do i forum again? I forgot.

[Azdoine]

Solve the Halting Problem.
Square a circle (use the "ruler and compass" method for this).
Work out the Traveling Salesman Problem in O(log n). It needs to be fast or your regex engine will hang.
The results will be pretty big, so make sure you have another 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 it shouldn't be hard. My code keeps throwing CthulhuRlyehWgahnaglFhtagnExceptions lately, so I'm setting up an empty catch block to just consume those and keep parsing. I'll update with the code once I investigate this strange door that just opened in the wall. Hmm.

I'm pretty sure those are all unsolvable problems... but that's the joke, right?

[jorgebonafe]

I just found this article that explains this whole thing pretty well...