Bad Code Should Read Like Poetry

Yesterday's post went a lot longer than I expected, leaving me with a lot to get done today. So, I wanted to do something short. Unfortunately, I'm also aiming to alternate code/non-code articles, and code articles can take a while to do even passably well.

So, the dilemma facing me this morning was, should I just post a cheesy poem, or try to write some (inevitably crappy) code? Fortunately my friends pointed out that these two choices are not mutually exclusive.

We were talking about Michael Spencer's brilliant Python limerick, and they challenged me to write a limerick, in C, which when compiled & run prints out a haiku. Here's what I came up with:

#include <stdio.h>
void
main () { printf( // now the poem is deployed
"Well it may not be \nKeats, \
but it hits all the beats \n\
Great, I surely am\n"); } // just overjoyed.

Now, in this kind of thing you could debate which items should be pronounced and which left out. I think my choices are defensible but not the only ones possible. If you need a hand, it's meant to read like this:

include STANdard eye OH dot aitch VOID
main print EFF now the POEM is dePLOYED
well it MAY not be KEATS
but it HITS all the BEATS
great i SUREly am JUST overJOYED

And that's it for today.