Nah just kidding but heres a shitty programming quiz for all you software engineers

Prize: ???

CV: $30.01

End: 7/5/2013 12:01AM (4 hours left from last edit)

http://itstoohard.com/puzzle/Lx76mz14

v1.0 - Original

v1.01 - Added More Choices

v1.02 Final - Fixed Syntax Issues

Usual rules apply, don't give out answers or hints.

11 years ago*

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I'm still learning it :(

11 years ago
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That awkward moment when PHP isn't considered programming.

Although I don't know PHP that much, I can understand what it does, but I have no idea what you want from us.

11 years ago
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me neither

11 years ago
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Me 2. Have some knowledge of PHP but I don't have the slightest idea what he wants.

11 years ago
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I really hoped for some Hard C or assembly problem...

11 years ago
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What if my input is ";drop table giveaways;"?
Oh ninja'd :/

11 years ago
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Do something using Matlab or C, please. :(

11 years ago
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Deutsche Bank? o.o

11 years ago
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I'm probably missing something here since my brain isn't wired for PHP these days, but isn't it impossible to tell what you're echoing if we know nothing about the database you're getting your data from?

11 years ago
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Is this a programming quiz or a brute-force quiz?

11 years ago
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10 IF X = 42 GOTO 40
20 X = X + 1
30 GOTO 10
40 PRINT "X is finally 42!"

syntax error
:D

11 years ago
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/r/shittyprograming here. It will eventually reach 42 even if it has to integer overflow.

11 years ago
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Using GOTO for a simple loop.

That's terrible.

11 years ago
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Indeed. He should have recalibrated his function to forward the conductive resonation in sync with class inheritance. That would have catalysted the intrical parameters required to DDOS the prime value of the subatomic matrix. Simple looping any child could do.

11 years ago
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You never defined X

11 years ago
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Assuming this is something like QBasic, he doesn't need to.

11 years ago
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i have this problem in mcpixel and they ask me to solve it :O im not so\that smart

11 years ago
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require 'dbconnect.php';
/r/ dbconnect.php source

11 years ago
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Too much bruteforce for me..

11 years ago
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10 Print "HURT"
20 GOTO 10

11 years ago
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DO
PRINT "HURT"
LOOP

ftfy

11 years ago
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Professional programmer with nearly a decade of experience in PHP here.

The code is using a deprecated module (mysql) and is very prone to SQL injection; it should be using prepared statements via either the mysqli or PDO modules.

The code is looking for a GET HTTP request where the input parameter is equal to the answer. So we'd need to set $_GET['input'] to the answer, of which could be any string whatsoever - there is no hint in the code as to what the answer is.

Alternatively, we could set $_GET['input'] to a certain string to SQL inject the database and dump the entire giveaway table.

The puzzle mentions using $a as a dummy string, but this is in no way applicable to any of the code, unless it confusingly is asking you to set $_GET['input'] to 'a' in order to get the answer, in which case it still makes very little sense and is worded quite poorly.

tl;dr This puzzle uses poor quality code and makes no sense.

11 years ago
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"Shitty Programming Puzzle"

11 years ago
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A programmer should have standards even when being shitty.

11 years ago
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It actually was the same for me - code made no sense at all, but when I see discussions in this thread I clearly understand that I've missed somthing in this life and I've no puzzle thinking :)

11 years ago
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You don't seem to get the solution to this puzzle. I do, but there are still several possibilities to make the if-clause true and everyone of those can be written differently (depending on personal coding preferences). It's like free text, and free text is never a good response to a question that is based on simple string comparison (like itstoohard-puzzles)

11 years ago
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Try the new version, it should contain other acceptable formats.

11 years ago
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I tried a few working possibilities, but without knowing which exact approach the creator had in mind (and how he usually formats his code) i won't try again. Too much brute force

11 years ago
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You don't seem to get the solution to this puzzle. I do

Judging from the number of people who've solved it, you're the only one.

11 years ago
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its been less than an hour and this is an oddly specific question, i think 1 is pretty good

11 years ago
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Less experience here but I tend to agree.

11 years ago
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emm. 2x2 is 4

11 years ago
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Nice idea but It's hard to get the same syntax that you want. There are several ways to get the same result... it'd be better to use a real server running this php so we can get the link by ourself instead of trying to guess what syntax was the one that you wrote down as correct answer.

11 years ago
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The answer format is just the string right?

11 years ago
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yup, imagine that text box is connected with the variable $_GET['input']

11 years ago
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Hmmm ok , time to think :3

Worked with PHP a little , Mostly with MySQL , hope I'll find the answer :D

11 years ago
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Please don't use PHP. It's the worst "programming" "language" ever "designed". Stay away from it, because it's broken, undesigned (I know that's not a valid word) and you won't learn anything that would apply to actual programming.

11 years ago
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As a professional web application developer with nearly 10 years of experience in PHP, I tend to agree with you. The language is incredibly terribly designed, but it is very viable for both small and massive applications alike. If you want to learn programming, don't learn PHP. If you must learn PHP, first learn another programming language, so you have some idea of why PHP is so terrible.

I've participated in PHP's language design mailing lists, i.e. the people who work on new features and what-not, and the language isn't going to get better. It's just a clusterfuck of bad design.

Personally, I recommend node.js. It's new and not as popular as other choices, but it's an incredible piece of software that has a lot of promise.

If you just want to learn programming, start with C. Not C++, not C#, C.

11 years ago
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Even VB6 is "very viable". That doesn't make it any good and doesn't mean you should use it ;) PHP is a serious clusterf*ck made by people with no theoretical knowledge nor prior development experience. It truly is unfixable at this point.

I don't think C is a good starting point, simply because it has pointers, and unless you're going to do low-level development, you don't need them. JavaScript is neat, but the whole prototyping thing won't apply to other languages later. Some people swear by Python as a starting point, but I will recommend C# - simply because it's the most advanced language right now, and along with Java, an industry standard.

11 years ago
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VB6 is not viable in the sense that PHP is. With PHP, you can easily create a simple or complex website, whether you're a single 14 year old or a professional company of thousands. The application can be designed so that it's easily maintainable. With proper caching and database design, speed is not an issue. PHP is a perfectly fine choice for any level of web developer, aside from the fact that the language itself is terribly designed.

C is a great starting point if you want to learn programming. By learning the basics early on, you'll have a much easier time with higher-level programming languages, and you'll have a better understanding of programming in general.

JavaScript is a great programming language, and the more you use it, the more you'll love it. Coming from a background in primarily classical object oriented languages, numerous parts of JavaScript were hard for me to grasp initially. The more I use it, the more I love it. It's incredibly flexible.

Python and C# are great languages all-together, though they're high-level and thus they wouldn't be my first recommendation to someone with no prior programming experience. Java is fine for the most part, but I often see Java developers tending to over-use object-oriented design in their applications, Java and not, and that's never a good thing. This is something I see more in Java developers than developers on any other programming language, so I assume it has something to do with the design of either the language or popular libraries/apps.

Rather than unlearning bad practices, learn the good ones first.

11 years ago
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There's still tens of millions of people running business-critical VB6 code.

Also, the words "PHP" and "maintainable" really don't belong anywhere near each other :)

11 years ago
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You just try finding a client who would ask of you writing, or maintaining, his website using perl, python or ruby. I have yet to meet one. And absolutely no-one I've worked with ever had mod_perl, mod_python or Rails installed on the server, so you also can try persuading them into changing that.

All in all, the sad truth is that if you are a contractor, you simply need to know and work with that godawful language well enough to circumvent at least some of its godawfulness. I wouldn't even call PHP a language, it's more of a toolbox -- I guess when you don't call it a language in the first place, you can somewhat mitigate its messing with your brain.

11 years ago
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RoR was quite popular several years ago; I have no idea what happened to it since. Wouldn't surprise me if most of the stuff had been rewritten in something else.

I spent three years doing PHP, then had a short Joomla-PHP gig a couple of years ago. If I had to do it again, I'd probably jump off a bridge. Some things just aren't worth the money...

11 years ago
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I hear ya.

11 years ago
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11 years ago
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If you have any source for the VB6 statistics, I'd be interested in seeing them. I'm talking about enterprise web applications here. I have not heard nor, after brief research, do I see any numbers on modern-day VB6 popularity in regards to web applications or otherwise. I do find that quite intriguing, and would love to see some relevant data here.

Using quality, proper object oriented design, PHP applications can be around as easily maintainable as any application designed with any other object oriented programming language.

11 years ago
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It has some flaws but it's very useful and fast if you know how to use it.

What language would you use instead? ruby? python?
We are talking about interpreted languages or scripting, don't mention anything involving compilation.

11 years ago
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You can compile python scripts to pyc files.

11 years ago
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I wouldn't call that process "compiling" :D

11 years ago
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[EDIT] Derp, never mind. I need to learn to read.

11 years ago
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I was expecting to find some complex code in Assembler, or a nice riddle in C++.

D:

11 years ago
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I was expecting something C++.

11 years ago
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damn PDO, I forgot these things xD

11 years ago
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always use PDO's or bad things will happen!

11 years ago
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I know a little tiny bit of C#, but dafuq is this?

11 years ago
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Bump

Code/Answer combination was wrong! I contacted OP and the code is now fixed! Try it again ;)

11 years ago
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i still have no idea how 5 people managed to get the same wrong answer as me

11 years ago
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Google my friend... It's all about Google xD

11 years ago
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Basic deduction was the key.

11 years ago
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It said "Basic Deduction" is wrong. Or did you win the give away? Why are you giving out the key? I think somebody ninja'd it.

11 years ago
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I'm still learning PHP, so I can't help.

11 years ago
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Well, props to the people that found out what we're looking for.

11 years ago
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FORTRAN, floating point, BASIC, PASCAL, ... I don't think you guys even consider these programming languages, anymore. I've got nothing for this giveaway.

11 years ago
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Kind of understanding the code, but not sure what you want as the answer.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by gangnamstyle.