Obfuscated C code
ob.fus.cate [LL obfuscatus, pp. of obfuscare] 1 a: darken b: to make obscure 2: confuse.

Code obfuscation means applying a set of transformations to a program, preserving its black box specification in order to make it more difficult to reverse-engineer.
Generally, obfuscated code is source code that has been made very difficult to read and understand. “Obfuscators” achieve this by altering the structure that makes a program human-readable. They also use macro pre-processors to mask the standard syntax and grammar from the main body of code.
Obfuscations can also create artistic effects through keyword substitutions or the use, or non-use, of white space.
Obfuscated C Codes are highly creative examples of coding employing the “C” programming language. These programs combine an executable function with an aesthetic quality of the source code. Since 1984 there have been programming contests such as the “International Obfuscated C Code Contest” in which the best programmers worldwide compete. The challenge is to employ programming languages like C, C++ and Perl under particularly restrictive rules but in an extremely creative way. The obfuscated C code contest rules are quite simple - “Write, in 512 bytes or less, the worst complete C program”.
The aims of the contest are to present the most obscure and obfuscated C program, to demonstrate the importance of ironic programming style, to give prominence to compilers with unusual code and to illustrate the subtleties of the C language.

Don Yang won the IOCCC in 2000 in the “best layout category” with the Saitou Hajime code. This program generates a set of mutually reproducing programs which all have a different layout. The Saitou.C code is written in the shape of the face of Saitou Hajime, a Japanese samurai and manga star. The program, when executed, is able to generate a further program, which can then also be executed. The three following source code files have the shape of the words “aku”, “soku” and “zan” (sin, swift, slay) which are Saitou’s motto.

This example of obfuscated C code was the winning entry in the 1998 “International Obfuscated C Code Contest” (IOCCC), in the “Best of Show” category.
It is a flight simulator done in 1536 bytes of real code. The code, if executed, enables the user to pilot a Piper Cherokee airplane through different landscapes.
The program has only 2 kilobytes of code, with accurate 6-degree-of-freedom dynamics, loadable (3D) wireframe scenery and a small instrument panel; it runs on Unix-like systems with X Windows.
A special highlight is the layout aesthetic - the source code of the program draws the shape of an airplane. This was written in the ANSI C programming language. Form and content are a unity, so we could call it literature. Or is it just a technical game? Once compiled and executed, it is a three-dimensional wireframe flight simulator. The aircraft is a subjective view, and the scenario being explored is read from another file.