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International Obfuscated C Code Contest: History, Examples & Obfuscations employed

The International Obfuscated C Code Contest (abbreviated IOCCC) is a computer programming contest for code written in C that is the most creatively obfuscated and held annually (when possible). It is described as "celebrating C's syntactical opaqueness". The winning code for the 28th contest, held in 2025/26, was announced by live stream 6 June 2026.

Language: English [EN]
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International Obfuscated C Code Contest topic overview

The analysis highlights History, Examples and Obfuscations employed as prominent areas in the source structure around International Obfuscated C Code Contest.

Related topics
25
Source areas
5
Connected nodes
30
Extracted relationships
9
Concept neighborhoods
11
Bridge connections
30

What this topic covers Research coverage

Source areas are shown by the number of related topics found in each part of the analysis. Use smaller areas too: they can reveal specialized angles and content gaps.

Examples · 8 topics
History · 5 topics
Overview · 5 topics
Obfuscations employed · 4 topics
Rules · 3 topics

Smaller areas are not necessarily less important. They contain fewer connections in this analysis and can be useful for finding specialized angles or coverage gaps.

Key facts & relationships

High-confidence facts extracted from structured source data. Use them as anchors for further research.

Genre
Coding contest
Founders
Landon Curt Noll, Larry Bassel
Frequency
Semi-annually
Inaugurated
1984 (1984)
Most recent
2025
Next event
Dec 2026

Explore all related topics Closing gaps

Browse the complete topic structure, not only the most central items. Less prominent entities and concepts can reveal missing angles, specialized context and useful research gaps. Each item opens a new analysis centered on that subject.

Overview

History

Rules

Obfuscations employed

Examples

Advanced semantic analysis

Deeper signals for content research, entity SEO and topical coverage. The plain-language headings explain what each technical view is useful for.

How International Obfuscated C Code Contest connects Entity context

The extracted context around International Obfuscated C Code Contest shows recurring relationship patterns in the source. For example, International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Landon Curt Noll, Larry Bassel Another extracted example is International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Semi-annually. Use these groups to spot repeated connection types before inspecting the individual relationships.

International Obfuscated C Code Contest

Top relations

Founders · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Landon Curt Noll, Larry Bassel
Frequency · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Semi-annually
Genre · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Coding contest
Inaugurated · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → 1984 (1984)
Most recent · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → 2025
Next event · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Dec 2026
Status · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Active
Website · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → www.ioccc.org
Years active · 1
International Obfuscated C Code Contest → 1984–1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004–2006, 2011–2015, 2018–2020, 2024-2025

Important terminology

Use these terms to understand the vocabulary surrounding the topic, not as a checklist for keyword stuffing.

Important terminology

contest code ioccc entries source rules winning website written toledo obfuscated entry programming held announced nanochess years 1984 2011 size

International Obfuscated C Code Contest relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

TTTA extracted 9 structured relationships around International Obfuscated C Code Contest. Examples in this analysis include International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Founders → Landon Curt Noll, Larry Bassel and International Obfuscated C Code Contest → Frequency → Semi-annually. The table shows each extracted connection, where it came from and its confidence.

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
International Obfuscated C Code ContestFoundersLandon Curt Noll, Larry Bassel1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestFrequencySemi-annually1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestGenreCoding contest1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestInaugurated1984 (1984)1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestMost recent20251.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestNext eventDec 20261.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestStatusActive1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestWebsitewww.ioccc.org1.00infobox
International Obfuscated C Code ContestYears active1984–1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004–2006, 2011–2015, 2018–2020, 2024-20251.00infobox

Related concept clusters Concept neighborhoods

The concept neighborhoods around International Obfuscated C Code Contest bring nearby vocabulary together. In this analysis, examples include Programming, Winner and Entry. Use the clusters to find adjacent concepts and terminology that may deserve separate research.

  • International Obfuscated C Code Contest
    • Programming
    • Winner
    • Entry
    • Contest
    • Obfuscated
    • Competition
    • Described
    • Held
    • Rules
    • Ioccc
    • Nanochess
    • Program
  • international obfuscated c code contest
    • Programming
    • Source
    • Winner
    • Entry
    • Contest
    • Obfuscated
    • Ioccc
    • Program
    • Website
    • Competition
    • Described
    • Held
  • code
    • Source
    • Contest
    • Obfuscated
    • Winner
    • Program
    • Programming
    • Entry
    • Ioccc
    • Held
    • Contestants
    • Nanochess
    • Toledo
  • self-modifying code
    • Source
    • Contest
    • Obfuscated
    • Winner
    • Program
    • Programming
    • Entry
    • Ioccc
    • Held
    • Contestants
    • Nanochess
    • Toledo
  • obfuscated
    • Programming
    • Winner
    • Entry
    • Competition
    • Described
    • Held
    • Nanochess
    • Program
    • Website
    • Winning
    • Toledo
    • Written
  • rules
    • Years
    • Noll
    • Also
    • Contestants
    • Original
    • Rule
    • Nanochess
    • Size
    • Website
    • Entry
    • Toledo
    • Written
  • computer programming
    • Described
    • Winner
    • Competition
    • Preprocessor
    • Program
    • Website
    • Entry
    • Written
    • Entries
    • Source
  • landon curt noll
    • Landon
    • Noll
    • Also
    • Years
    • Nanochess
    • Website
    • Toledo
    • Rules
    • Ioccc

Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

For International Obfuscated C Code Contest, one of the stronger structural bridges in this analysis connects International Obfuscated C Code Contest with Examples. Bridges highlight paths between different parts of the map and can reveal research angles that are easy to miss in a flat list.

Min side: 3
International Obfuscated C Code Contest — Examples · splits 22 ⟂ 9
International Obfuscated C Code Contest — Overview · splits 25 ⟂ 6
International Obfuscated C Code Contest — History · splits 25 ⟂ 6
International Obfuscated C Code Contest — Obfuscations employed · splits 26 ⟂ 5
International Obfuscated C Code Contest — Rules · splits 27 ⟂ 4

Map overview Semantic statistics

International Obfuscated C Code Contest

Nodes31
Edges30
Triples9
Avg. degree1.94
Density0.064516
Components1

Source & methodology

TTTA analyzes the structure around International Obfuscated C Code Contest to surface related topics, entities, relationships, concept neighborhoods and bridge connections. Use the map to explore areas such as History, Examples & Obfuscations employed, including less central topics that may reveal useful research gaps. Automatically extracted connections are research leads rather than rewritten encyclopedia content.

Source: Wikipedia — International Obfuscated C Code Contest · EN edition · Analysis: TopicsToTalkAbout

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