Tabloid – The Clickbait Headline Programming Language (opens in new tab)

(tabloid-thesephist.vercel.app)

270 pointsluuuzeta2y ago37 comments

37 comments

Hey HN! Fun to see this project from my college years on HN again. To clear my name, I have actually written other languages that are arguably more useful, like Oak [0] which I used to build a bunch of personal software infrastructure [1] including my current daily-driver apps for notes, longform writing, a Twitter client, a personal search engine, and a few other knickknacks.

I find building little toy interpreters and programming languages fantastically fulfilling, creatively energizing, and a really fun way to learn how such a common element of our work that's often a black box functions inside. I've written before about how to get started [2] with these kinds of little toy programming language projects if you're curious to dive in.

[0] https://oaklang.org/

[1] https://github.com/topics/oaklang

[2] https://thesephist.com/posts/pl/

epaga2y ago

You know the documentation is good when I can hand it to ChatGPT and it spits out a fully functional program for me after two small tweaks (I had to tell it to add RUMOR HAS IT and to not chain operations).

Write a program in Tabloid that takes 5 numbers and returns the product of the first three numbers plus the product of the last two.

Run it with the numbers 4,5,7,8,9.

----> ChatGPT response:

    DISCOVER HOW TO product_with_five_numbers WITH a, b, c, d, e

    RUMOR HAS IT

        EXPERTS CLAIM ab_product TO BE a TIMES b

        EXPERTS CLAIM first_product TO BE ab_product TIMES c

        EXPERTS CLAIM de_product TO BE d TIMES e

        EXPERTS CLAIM result TO BE first_product PLUS de_product

        SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT result

    END OF STORY

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_a TO BE 4

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_b TO BE 5

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_c TO BE 7

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_d TO BE 8

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_e TO BE 9

    EXPERTS CLAIM final_result TO BE product_with_five_numbers OF input_a, input_b, input_c, input_d, input_e

    YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'The result is'

    YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS final_result

    PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

luuuzetaOP2y ago

The author has one of the most interesting projects list I've seen: https://thesephist.com/projects/

ukuina2y ago

This guy ships!

nine_k2y ago

Look how rolling his own basically everything, except an OS, seems to work pretty well.

Given time and ability, making what you need almost from scratch may be not just viable, but productive.

1 more reply

api2y ago

The author is, if this is all real, one of the most prolific programmers I’ve seen. Wow! Can I have some of what he’s on?

cxie2y ago

It's clear that the "author" is a +10x engineer. It's rare to come across someone with such a broad range of interests and abilities, and their contributions to open-source software are truly remarkable.

nomel2y ago

I ask this honestly, possibly because I'm of an inferior build, but do these types of people have jobs?

2 more replies

rvense2y ago

The secret is that they always write "you" as "u" and then spend all the time saved on programming.

1 more reply

xtreme2y ago

It seems to me that people name Linus are destined for greatness.

* Linus Torvalds (The OG)

* Linus Sebastian (Linus Tech Tips)

* Linus Lee (Author)

leokennis2y ago

The "EXPERTS CLAIM limit TO BE 10" is the epitome of our times. People who agree can hide behind authority and people who disagree don't need any knowledge to do so, the fact that something was claimed by an expert is reason enough.

Alifatisk2y ago

Well said sir

awb2y ago

On a related note: I Just a new app called Boring Report on r/SideProject that strips clickbait content from articles so you can read the info without the sensationalism

https://www.boringreport.org/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/12bgn7p/weve_c...

augment0012y ago

Awesome idea!

velcrovan2y ago

I did an implementation of this in Racket: https://github.com/otherjoel/tabloid

Tade02y ago

> PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

Perfection.

I had a similar, never realized concept of a language named "Spouse"(no gender implied), with keywords such as "You promised we would ... on ..."(declarations), "you always ..."(loops) and "Fine."(marking the end of the program). I couldn't get the grammar to be both consistent and sound like the real deal though.

fjfaase2y ago

Funny little language. I used it in an exercise for the a workshop I gave at MCH2022 called 'Workshop: A practical approach to parsing' [1]. My solution can be found at GitHub [2] and can be used with IParseStudio [3] to execute programs written in Tabloid using the build-in interpreter.

[1]: https://fransfaase.github.io/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/ [2]: https://github.com/FransFaase/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/blob/mai... [3]: https://fransfaase.github.io/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/IParseStu...

Joker_vD2y ago

But does it support fake news?

    WHAT IF TOTALLY RIGHT IS ACTUALLY COMPLETELY WRONG
        YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'Alt-facts in logic are here'
    LIES!
        YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'Fake news are not discovered yet'
    
    PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

It prints that "FAKE NEWS ARE NOT DISCOVERED YET!", disappointingly enough.

davidkunz2y ago

Looks like I'll be doomscrolling through massive code bases.

moffkalast2y ago

Well you gotta make your development a bit more shocking.

hryx2y ago

Gotta love goofy stunts that take effort to make! A spiritually similar programming language that also screams a lot is ArnoldC: https://lhartikk.github.io/ArnoldC/

sam0x172y ago

For some reason I lost it at the "PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE"

rwoerz2y ago

Made my day! What about import statements like "CELEBRETIES LOVE X" or an "unsafe" keyword like "SECURITY EXPERTS HATE THIS TRICK"?

miniBill2y ago

I see your tabloid and I raise you a https://github.com/esseks/monicelli

ciwolsey2y ago

Some people just have way too much free time.

cfuendev2y ago

Or simply they spend their free time doing what they enjoy

the_common_man2y ago

And the world is a better place for it

curious_92y ago

Maybe they're just really good at optimizing their time management. Or maybe they're secretly superheroes with the power of super-productivity. You never know

varjag2y ago

Perhaps SMALLER THAN should of been NOT ANYWHERE NEAR OF

the_common_man2y ago

Brilliant, made my day

1 more reply

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37 comments

thesephist2y ago

[0] https://oaklang.org/

[1] https://github.com/topics/oaklang

[2] https://thesephist.com/posts/pl/

epaga2y ago

Write a program in Tabloid that takes 5 numbers and returns the product of the first three numbers plus the product of the last two.

Run it with the numbers 4,5,7,8,9.

----> ChatGPT response:

    DISCOVER HOW TO product_with_five_numbers WITH a, b, c, d, e

    RUMOR HAS IT

        EXPERTS CLAIM ab_product TO BE a TIMES b

        EXPERTS CLAIM first_product TO BE ab_product TIMES c

        EXPERTS CLAIM de_product TO BE d TIMES e

        EXPERTS CLAIM result TO BE first_product PLUS de_product

        SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT result

    END OF STORY

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_a TO BE 4

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_b TO BE 5

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_c TO BE 7

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_d TO BE 8

    EXPERTS CLAIM input_e TO BE 9

    EXPERTS CLAIM final_result TO BE product_with_five_numbers OF input_a, input_b, input_c, input_d, input_e

    YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'The result is'

    YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS final_result

    PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

luuuzetaOP2y ago

The author has one of the most interesting projects list I've seen: https://thesephist.com/projects/

ukuina2y ago

This guy ships!

nine_k2y ago

Look how rolling his own basically everything, except an OS, seems to work pretty well.

Given time and ability, making what you need almost from scratch may be not just viable, but productive.

1 more reply

api2y ago

The author is, if this is all real, one of the most prolific programmers I’ve seen. Wow! Can I have some of what he’s on?

cxie2y ago

nomel2y ago

I ask this honestly, possibly because I'm of an inferior build, but do these types of people have jobs?

2 more replies

rvense2y ago

The secret is that they always write "you" as "u" and then spend all the time saved on programming.

1 more reply

xtreme2y ago

It seems to me that people name Linus are destined for greatness.

* Linus Torvalds (The OG)

* Linus Sebastian (Linus Tech Tips)

* Linus Lee (Author)

leokennis2y ago

Alifatisk2y ago

Well said sir

awb2y ago

On a related note: I Just a new app called Boring Report on r/SideProject that strips clickbait content from articles so you can read the info without the sensationalism

https://www.boringreport.org/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/12bgn7p/weve_c...

augment0012y ago

Awesome idea!

velcrovan2y ago

I did an implementation of this in Racket: https://github.com/otherjoel/tabloid

Tade02y ago

> PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

Perfection.

fjfaase2y ago

[1]: https://fransfaase.github.io/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/ [2]: https://github.com/FransFaase/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/blob/mai... [3]: https://fransfaase.github.io/MCH2022ParserWorkshop/IParseStu...

Joker_vD2y ago

But does it support fake news?

    WHAT IF TOTALLY RIGHT IS ACTUALLY COMPLETELY WRONG
        YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'Alt-facts in logic are here'
    LIES!
        YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS 'Fake news are not discovered yet'
    
    PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE

It prints that "FAKE NEWS ARE NOT DISCOVERED YET!", disappointingly enough.

davidkunz2y ago

Looks like I'll be doomscrolling through massive code bases.

moffkalast2y ago

Well you gotta make your development a bit more shocking.

hryx2y ago

Gotta love goofy stunts that take effort to make! A spiritually similar programming language that also screams a lot is ArnoldC: https://lhartikk.github.io/ArnoldC/

sam0x172y ago

For some reason I lost it at the "PLEASE LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE"

rwoerz2y ago

Made my day! What about import statements like "CELEBRETIES LOVE X" or an "unsafe" keyword like "SECURITY EXPERTS HATE THIS TRICK"?

miniBill2y ago

I see your tabloid and I raise you a https://github.com/esseks/monicelli

ciwolsey2y ago

Some people just have way too much free time.

cfuendev2y ago

Or simply they spend their free time doing what they enjoy

the_common_man2y ago

And the world is a better place for it

curious_92y ago

Maybe they're just really good at optimizing their time management. Or maybe they're secretly superheroes with the power of super-productivity. You never know

varjag2y ago

Perhaps SMALLER THAN should of been NOT ANYWHERE NEAR OF

the_common_man2y ago

Brilliant, made my day

1 more reply

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