Output with the same length as the code

Question 1

In this challenge, you should write a program or function which takes no input and prints or returns a string with the same number of bytes as the program itself. There are a few rules:

You may only output bytes in the printable ASCII range (0x20 to 0x7E, inclusive), or newlines (0x0A or 0x0D).
Your code must not be a quine, so the code and the output must differ in at least one byte.
Your code must be at least one byte long.
If your output contains trailing newlines, those are part of the byte count.
If your code requires non-standard command-line flags, count them as usual (i.e. by adding the difference to a standard invocation of your language's implementation to the byte count), and the output's length must match your solution's score. E.g. if your program isab and requires the non-standard flag-n (we'll assume it can't be combined with standard flags, so it's 3 bytes), you should output 5 bytes in total.
The output doesn't always have to be the same, as long as you can show that every possible output satisfies the above requirements.
Usual quine rulesdon't apply. You may read the source code or its size, but I doubt this will be shorter than hardcoding it in most languages.

You may write aprogram or a function and use any of thestandard methods of providing output. Note that if you print the result, you may choose to print it either to the standard output or the standard error stream, but only one of them counts.

You may use anyprogramming language, but note thatthese loopholes are forbidden by default.

This iscode-golf, so the shortest valid answer – measured inbytes – wins.

Leaderboard

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body{text-align:left!important}#answer-list,#language-list{padding:10px;width:290px;float:left}table thead{font-weight:700}table td{padding:5px}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//cdn.sstatic.net/codegolf/all.css?v=83c949450c8b"> <div> <h2>Leaderboard</h2> <table> <thead> <tr><td></td><td>Author</td><td>Language</td><td>Size</td></tr></thead> <tbody> </tbody> </table> </div><div> <h2>Winners by Language</h2> <table> <thead> <tr><td>Language</td><td>User</td><td>Score</td></tr></thead> <tbody> </tbody> </table> </div><table> <tbody> <tr><td>{{PLACE}}</td><td>{{NAME}}</td><td>{{LANGUAGE}}</td><td>{{SIZE}}</td><td><a href="{{LINK}}">Link</a></td></tr></tbody> </table> <table> <tbody> <tr><td>{{LANGUAGE}}</td><td>{{NAME}}</td><td>{{SIZE}}</td><td><a href="{{LINK}}">Link</a></td></tr></tbody> </table>

Question 2

Related.Related.

Question 3

@Mr.XcoderYes, if you declare them as such.

Question 4

@DJMcMayhem I figured that in many esolangs it's trivial to print a null byte with one byte of code or similar things, and thought it would lead to more interesting answers if the results were actually readable.

Question 5

@MartinEnder You should probably disallow output by exit code, which is a default. If you allow it nearly every one byte program in nearly every language is allowed.One user has already done this

Question 6

@WheatWizard output by exit code is not a string, so it doesn't apply here.

Question 7

C (modern Linux), 19 bytes

main(){puts('s');}

When compiled and run, this prints:

Segmentation fault

Question 8

This is brilliant :D

Question 9

this is more like "C + English language unix/posix OS ;)"

Question 10

I think it would be better to write "C, modern Linux" than just "C": Under Windows the error message is different and in old times Linux programs were even compiled in a way that the address 0x73 ('s') was readable so no exception was caused.

Question 11

I joined the site just to upvote this answer.

Question 12

As impressive as this is, it's not really the C program that prints the output, but the shell it's running in.

Question 13

Excel, 11 bytes

Norwegian language version:

=SMÅ(13^9)

English language version (12 bytes):

=LOWER(17^9)

Generates n-digit number and converts to text by converting to lowercase.

Question 14

This gives a whole new meaning to "picking the right language for the job".

Question 15

This is a great idea. It would be shorter to do=9^7&"" which generates a 7 digit number in either language and is only 7 bytes.

Question 16

@OpiesDad Nice solution, I think you should post it as an answer, so I can upvote.

Question 17

@MartinEnder It amuses me how your speculation/potential joke is more upvoted than this answer (though it's close).

Question 18

Bash (builtins only), 8 bytes

{e,,}cho

Printscho cho and a newline.

Question 19

Like a train: choo choo!

Question 20

Labyrinth, 4 bytes

!!>@

Try it online!

Prints0000

Explanation

!   Print an implicit 0 from the stack.!   Print an implicit 0 from the stack.>   Rotate the source code right by one cell, so the code now becomes    @!!>    The IP is moved along, so it's now at the end of the line, which is     a dead end. So the IP turns around and starts moving left.!   Print an implicit 0 from the stack.!   Print an implicit 0 from the stack.@   Terminate the program.

Question 21

That is too clever. Have a +1, on the house!

Question 22

Retina, 2 bytes

no

Try it online!

Prints0 and a linefeed.

There are a lot of 2-byte solutions, but I believe this is optimal. Retina by default always prints a trailing newline and getting rid of it takes too many bytes. So we'd have to find a 1-byte program that leaves the empty input unchanged. I believe the only program which does this is the program containing a single linefeed, which is therefore equal to the output and hence not permitted by the challenge.

The next simplest thing to do is to live with Retina outputting a single digit (the number of matches of some regex against the empty input), and we can do that with a lot of failing (or matching) 2-byte patterns.

Question 23

Mathematica, 2 bytes

4!

factorial

24

Question 24

Gah! too clever.

Question 25

beat me to it! +1. (I think you should mention that this is in the REPL version of Mathematica.)

Question 26

If this is a reasonable answer, wouldn't the answer "1" also be a reasonable answer? (Putting '1' into Mathematica's REPL would return '1' too...)

Question 27

@MarkSegal That would violate the no-quine-rule.

Question 28

Rules:..."...the code and the output must differ in at least one byte"

Question 29

C, 20 bytes

f(){printf("%20d");}

Outputs some number, padded with spaces to a length of 20. (What number? Whatever happens to come next in memory.)

Some sample runs on my system:

llama@llama:...code/c/ppcg121056samelen$ ./a.out            -666605944llama@llama:...code/c/ppcg121056samelen$ ./a.out           -1391039592llama@llama:...code/c/ppcg121056samelen$ ./a.out            1727404696llama@llama:...code/c/ppcg121056samelen$ ./a.out              10717352llama@llama:...code/c/ppcg121056samelen$ ./a.out            1485936232

It's a shame that the output can't be arbitrary bytes, because that would have allowed this 19 byte solution:

f(){write(1,f,19);}

which outputs 19 bytes of junk, starting atf's address.

Question 30

I'm glad to see an answer that makes use of the varying-output rule. :)

Question 31

Couldn't this segfault?

Question 32

Where's the TIO link(s)?

Question 33

@Daniel No, the number printed will come from the previous contents of the%esi register.

Question 34

@Doorknob but it's still undefined behavior, therefore a more sadistic compiler might do something entirely different here

Question 35

Bash on Linux, 6

uname

(followed by a newline)

OutputsLinux followed by a newline.

Question 36

Technicallyuname isn't a bash builtin - it's a separate executable

Question 37

-1, and actually a builtin

Question 38

@GammaFunction Where do you seeuname as a bash builtin? Every distro I can lay my hands on right now it is a separate binary,including TIO. Conversely, as your linked answer shows,umask is a builtin in most/all shells.

Question 39

Idon't seeuname as a builtin. When I said "-1, and actually a builtin", I meant "This answer usesumask for -1 bytes, andumask is actually a builtin".

Question 40

@GammaFunction Sorry - I misunderstood the meaning of the "-1" in your comment - I'm used to those meaning downvote and a comment explaining why.

Question 41

Javascript ES6, 9 bytes

Using Template Strings

_=>`${_}`

f=_=>`${_}`console.log(f());console.log(typeof f());

Question 42

Isundefined considered a string?

Question 43

@Shaggy See the edit. I am using String interpolation

Question 44

Wow this is my second post on PPCG and 14 upvotes ! Thanks

Question 45

Why simple whey you can have it difficult?(_=>_+'').

Question 46

@GOTO0 Oh ok you keep the parenthesis. This is another option. I personally prefer mine hehe

Question 47

Pyramid Scheme,7443 42 bytes

Saved 31 bytes thanks to Khuldraeseth na'Barya! Saved 1 byte thanks to JoKing's redesigned solution!

  ^ /^\^---^-^ ^- -^- /2\/ 8 \-----

Try it online! Outputs the 41-digit number28^28 = 33145523113253374862572728253364605812736, followed by a trailing newline.

Old version

  ^ / \/out\-----^    /^\   ^---^  /1\ /9\ /606\---/51015\-------

Try it online!

Outputs71277303925397560663333806233294794013421332605135474842607729452115234375 =160651015 ** 9, or about 10⁷⁴.

Question 48

Hey, are you trying to sell your language? If so, you're under arrest. -- The Cops

Question 49

@NoOneIsHere pardon?

Question 50

Sorry, it's called Pyramid Scheme, which is also the name of a type of scam.

Question 51

ohhhhhhhhhhhh rofl

Question 52

Implicit output gets you down to43 bytes.

Question 53

Python 2, 9 bytes

print{+1}

This printsset([1]) and a linefeed.

Try it online!

Question 54

From brute-forcing programs starting withprint, there are no shorter solutions, and the only 9-bytes ones are variants of this andLuis Mendo'sprint 1e5.

Question 55

Python 2, 9 bytes

print 1e5

The displayed output contains a trailing newline.

Try it online!

Question 56

Do trailing newlines count as a character as far as output? Otherwise, this prints eight bytes.

Question 57

@OldBunny2800 Yes, the challenge saysIf your output contains trailing newlines, those are part of the byte count. Anyway, I'll clarify that in my answer

Question 58

brainfuck, 25 bytes

--[-->+<]+++++[->-.....<]

Try it online!Note: Requires an implementation with 8-bit unsigned cells

Output:

~~~~~}}}}}|||||{{{{{zzzzz

Explanation

--[         254 -->+<]      /2 = 127 into the second cell+++++[      Five times ->-.....<]  Print the second cell - 1 five times

Question 59

There are many BF-variations like a 8-bit-cell, infite tape. or a limited tape and infinite cells. I'm pretty sure yours is a unsigned 8-bit cell model, but i think it'd be good if you include that into your answer.

Question 60

@RomanGräf Good point! I usually do include that information if a non-standard implementation is required. This answer should work on any standard implementation (8-bit unsigned cells, any tape), but I'll add a note to clarify.

Question 61

Could you not have a 1 byte program. which prints the unprintableNULL character?

Question 62

@Graviton That would violate the first rule of this challenge. However, that's a valid solution in a BF derivative that defaults to a printable value (see:my brainbool answer).

Question 63

24 bytes

Question 64

C (Ideone), 14 bytes

f(){warn(0);}

On Ideone, which names its executableprog, this outputs the following with a trailing newline.

prog: Success

C (GCC), 15 bytes

f(){warn(00);}

Because GCC writes an executable nameda.out by default (in the absence of additional flags that would cost bytes), this outputs the following with a trailing newline.

a.out: Success

MD XF 14.2k5 gold badges70 silver badges108 bronze badges · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-21 21:01:00Z

231

\$\begingroup\$

C (modern Linux), 19 bytes

main(){puts('s');}

When compiled and run, this prints:

Segmentation fault

Share

Improve this answer

editedJul 21, 2017 at 21:01

answeredMay 17, 2017 at 21:54

MD XF

14.2k5 gold badges70 silver badges108 bronze badges

\$\endgroup\$

17

24
\$\begingroup\$This is brilliant :D\$\endgroup\$
Beta Decay
– Beta Decay
2017-05-17 22:13:05 +00:00
CommentedMay 17, 2017 at 22:13
7
\$\begingroup\$this is more like "C + English language unix/posix OS ;)"\$\endgroup\$
Florian Castellane
– Florian Castellane
2017-05-18 08:35:45 +00:00
CommentedMay 18, 2017 at 8:35
7
\$\begingroup\$I think it would be better to write "C, modern Linux" than just "C": Under Windows the error message is different and in old times Linux programs were even compiled in a way that the address 0x73 ('s') was readable so no exception was caused.\$\endgroup\$
Martin Rosenau
– Martin Rosenau
2017-05-18 14:21:38 +00:00
CommentedMay 18, 2017 at 14:21
13
\$\begingroup\$I joined the site just to upvote this answer.\$\endgroup\$
Nitish
– Nitish
2017-05-19 10:46:11 +00:00
CommentedMay 19, 2017 at 10:46
12
\$\begingroup\$As impressive as this is, it's not really the C program that prints the output, but the shell it's running in.\$\endgroup\$
Dennis
– Dennis
2017-05-23 04:27:40 +00:00
CommentedMay 23, 2017 at 4:27

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Movatterモバイル変換

Output with the same length as the code

Leaderboard

292 Answers292

C (modern Linux), 19 bytes

Excel, 11 bytes

Bash (builtins only), 8 bytes

Labyrinth, 4 bytes

Explanation

Retina, 2 bytes

Mathematica, 2 bytes

C, 20 bytes

Bash on Linux, 6

Javascript ES6, 9 bytes

Pyramid Scheme,7443 42 bytes

Old version

Python 2, 9 bytes

Python 2, 9 bytes

brainfuck, 25 bytes

Explanation

C (Ideone), 14 bytes

C (GCC), 15 bytes

Self-modifying Brainfuck, 5 bytes

Explanation:

Basic Arithmetic Calculator, 2 bytes

C (gcc),18 17 bytes

Portability

Offline verification

How it works

Fourier,2622 20 bytes

Brachylog, 1 byte

Explanation

Java (OpenJDK 8), 11 bytes

Saves

05AB1E, 1 byte

Batch, 12 bytes

Hexagony, 3 bytes

V/vim, 1 byte

Mornington Crescent, 1731 bytes

///, 12 bytes

Befunge, 2 bytes

R, 7 bytes

MATL, 2 bytes

Explanation

Charcoal, 2 bytes

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