- Produce exactly 1 copy of itself
- Name the copy "4"
- Not execute the copied file
- Print, return, or display the number 4
[ LIT2 13 -File/length ] DEO2
INC [ LIT2 -&filename -File/name ] DEO2
INC SWP .File/write DEO2
[ LIT2 "4 18 ] DEO
&filename "4
Which, assembles in 19 bytes:
a013 aa37 01a0 12a8 3701 0480 ae37 a034
1817 34
I finally wrote down my Binary Golf Grand Prix 4 research!
Chaining the most obscure Windows file formats I could find, finding some easter eggs, top-score irony, and bypassing digital signatures.
BGGP4: PleaseMom, QUANTUM, Rat? #BGGP4
For this last years Binary Golf Grand Prix the goal was to: Create the smallest self-replicating file. Requirements: Produce exactly 1 copy of itself Name the copy “4” Not execute the copied file Print, return, or display the number 4 I sat down with some beer, as one does, and resolved that my personal twist on the challenge would be to not just do a single filetype, but a chain of obscure filetypes.
A bit late to the party, but here is the writeup for our #bggp4 entry, winner of the .PYC category.
It is also a good introduction to #Malcat's editing capabilities!
Somehow I missed that the #bggp4 repo went live!
https://github.com/binarygolf/BGGP/tree/main/2023
I loved seeing so many cool self-replicating file types. Some of my favorites:
- a GameBoy ROM polyglot
- a PDF
- a zip file that exploits WinRAR…
Fun excuse to push myself to learn more about something I was interested in, and the combined result is impressive.
The write-ups are a great resource for a number of file types and anybody interested in “doing weird stuff with files” in general!
#bggp4 results appear to be published (but non-publicly?), and quoth https://github.com/binarygolf/BGGP/tree/main/2023:
> Some new file types, such as self-replicating VSCode Workspaces, UEFI Applications, and rizin debugger scripts, have left us feeling hopeful about future BGGP entries.
conversely, it's left me disillusioned with the bggp institution as a whole with an underspecified challenge (which IMO, given that https://github.com/binarygolf/BGGP/blob/main/2023/shell/caioluders.sh.txt and https://github.com/binarygolf/BGGP/blob/main/2023/pdf/gaycomputers.pdf.txt are both valid, my 8-byte solution in https://101010.pl/@nabijaczleweli/110729426724733327 possibly beats the official shell winner by two bytes (and even if deemed illegal, other illegal entries are still noted but just not winners, like in AHK), and the official shell winner's output /includes/ "4" in cp -v output, but not /is/ "4", the requirement is "Print, return, or display the number 4", and not "Print, return, or display any string containing the digit 4"; if "includes" is valid then `ln -v $0` is also 8 but is another valid solution and doesn't require running in an empty directory)
and a completely unresponsive submission address that has ignored both my mails, which include the above and https://101010.pl/@nabijaczleweli/110731852709923211 (which, some may note, beats the ELF entries almost two-fold!). funnier still, the official @binarygolf account has favourited both of these posts, so..?
was i the only psycho writing a.out binaries? possibly, but I see at least 14 monoglot single-entry categories
So the #bggp4 codegolf results were released a few days ago: https://github.com/binarygolf/BGGP/tree/main/2023
Apparently, my #PHP entry didn't make the cut, because it's not included in the list of entries received... I would've placed second in the category, so no huge loss either way.
At long last, #BGGP4 Results!
Devine Lu Linvega
remy🐀
Malcat
Mark Griffin
наб
Niklas
Imran Nazar ~ عمران نزر
binarygolf
isra 🏴☠️