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Fascinating. Even the README generator is on another level of meta: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/src/README.m...
This project isn't code, it's art.
Edit:
Heh, Brainfuck, Whitespace, Logo... and notice they're all in alphabetical order?
Why's there a Star of David in the middle?
I believe he chose the symbol Ouroboros to represent the "immortality through change" of the code. In one story... Ouroboros was an immortal snake who constantly shed his skin, and took on many forms.
Similarly, this code constantly changes form, yet is immortal. While it changes form, it manages to keep its identity.
The Star of David is incidental. As far as I know... it was added to the Ouroboros symbol in the anime/manga Full Metal Alchemist, but that rendition is perhaps the most famous artistic rendition of Ouroboros in recent culture.
Ouroboros had some connotations in the classical psudo-science of Alchemy as well. So perhaps there is an earlier version of Ouroboros + Star of David.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per the explanation linked in the discussion [1], the initial file generates code in another language. That code, when executed, generates code in yet another language. The process continues until the output is the code of the original file. [1] https://github.com/mame/quine-relay
What is unclear to me is how the final program manages to represent the entire code (thus the entire language loop). Wouldn't doing that make the source code recursive and infinite? Or am I missing something important?
This is a neat project but somehow the implementation is a lot less mind bending than the definition. Which is rather the opposite of what I experienced when I first heard of a Quine and figured out how to write one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing), Turbo Pascal in my case, heh).
This smacks of something else, perhaps art.
Anyone care to explain how this actually works?
It is a fun exercise to understand the theorem and its proof (and still probably easier than creating an actual quine).
Why's there a Star of David in the middle?
The symbol of note is not "The Star of David", but instead Ouroboros, the eternal snake... symbolized by a snake eating his own tail. I believe he chose the symbol Ouroboros to represent the "immortality through change" of the code. In one story... Ouroboros was an immortal snake who constantly shed his skin, and took on many forms. Similarly, this code constantly changes form, yet is immortal. While it changes form,…
Wheel of Time series begs to differ.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per the explanation linked in the discussion [1], the initial file generates code in another language. That code, when executed, generates code in yet another language. The process continues until the output is the code of the original file. [1] https://github.com/mame/quine-relay
What is unclear to me is how the final program manages to represent the entire code (thus the entire language loop). Wouldn't doing that make the source code recursive and infinite? Or am I missing something important?
In this case, however, the function F happens to be the composition of a bunch of individual functions. So F is equivalent to Rexx ∘ R ∘ Python ∘ Prolog, but with many more functions composed than I am willing to type right now. This doesn't change the nature of what we're searching for, which is simply a fixed point of a given function. Realistically, of course, it makes it more difficult and impressive for someone to actually accomplish, but mathematically/computationally speaking it's the same thing.
Fascinating. Even the README generator is on another level of meta: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/src/README.m...
And: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/QR.rb This project isn't code, it's art. Edit: Heh, Brainfuck, Whitespace, Logo... and notice they're all in alphabetical order?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The symbol of note is not "The Star of David", but instead Ouroboros, the eternal snake... symbolized by a snake eating his own tail. I believe he chose the symbol Ouroboros to represent the "immortality through change" of the code. In one story... Ouroboros was an immortal snake who constantly shed his skin, and took on many forms. Similarly, this code constantly changes form, yet is immortal. While it changes form,…
> The Star of David is incidental. As far as I know... it was added to the Ouroboros symbol in the anime/manga Full Metal Alchemist, but that rendition is perhaps the most famous artistic rendition of Ouroboros in recent culture. Wheel of Time series begs to differ.