# Most creative way to display 42

Douglas Adams was born on March 11, 1952, and died when he was just 49. In honor of this wonderful writer, I challenge you to display 42 in the most creative way possible.

You could print it in the log, via some convoluted method, or display it as ASCII art, or anything! Just come up with a creative method of displaying 42.

Because this a popularity-contest, whichever answer has the most upvotes by March 11, will be declared the winner.

Note: this is not a duplicate. The question it was marked as duplicating was a code-trolling question whose goal was to write code to output 42, not find the most creative way to display it.

## Honorable Mentions:

Mr Lister C 228 For the clever use of #define

David Carraher Mathematica 45 For the complicated and convoluted math function to achieve 42

Aschratt Windows Calculator 20 Because, well, it's windows calculator And definitely 1337.

f.rodrigues Python 17 Because of the clever use of using external programs. And MSPaint

Jason C LMGTFY 14 For the use of LMGTFY (Let Me Google That For You)

Trimsty Python 12 For the clever use of an error message to output 42.

Mukul Kumar C++ 7 For the nice ASCII output.

If you think that there is another answer worth putting on the list, please comment it!

• The old closed question was a code-trolling, i.e, anything that does not shows 42 beside appearing to do so or do it in a really horrible way. This one is not code-trolling, i.e. the output should really be 42 in a nice way. Hence it is not duplicate. – Victor Stafusa Feb 23 '14 at 22:59
• @DanDascalescu This SE site has many questions without strict requirements, which allows users to exercise creative freedom in their answers. Sometimes too many restrictions can impede the expression of creativity – grovesNL Feb 24 '14 at 0:45
• The question should remain at 42 votes. – Zero Fiber Feb 24 '14 at 3:47
• Marvin The Robot "I would post my brilliant answer, but you would probably down vote it. Being right all the time is so depressing." – Reactgular Feb 24 '14 at 16:43
• Can we get 42 favorites? – Milo Feb 24 '14 at 22:48

# Double Brainfuck

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


which outputs...

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


which outputs...

6*7=42

• I always thought something was fundamentally wrong with the universe. – mfitzp Feb 23 '14 at 14:05
• It should be 6*9=42. – Proxy Feb 23 '14 at 18:14
• @Proxy: True, but sometimes those references are lost on the viewers, even despite the context... ;-) – grovesNL Feb 23 '14 at 20:30
• @IsmaelMiguel: That's so base 10 of you... – Dennis Feb 23 '14 at 23:57
• I upvoted the whole question just so people would see this answer. – Michael Stern Feb 24 '14 at 0:52

# C

Here's an oldie but goodie...

#include <stdio.h>

#define six  1+5
#define nine 8+1

int main()
{
printf("what do you get when you multiply six by nine?\n");
printf("%i x %i = %i\n", six, nine, six*nine);
}


This program contains 42 different ASCII characters.

• that is awesome – ASKASK Feb 23 '14 at 17:55
• I love the use of #define to get the math "right" ^^. You're a hoopy frood. – Olivier Dulac Feb 24 '14 at 9:51
• @mikhailcazi: The preprocessor will replace those constants literally, so six*nine becomes 1+5*8+1 which is 42. Well done Mr Lister. – bodo Feb 24 '14 at 11:41
• @canaaerus Holy shit, that is genius. Bravo, Mr Lister! – mikhailcazi Feb 24 '14 at 12:22
• @mikhailcazi #define works in C++ exactly the same way as in C. – Mr Lister Feb 24 '14 at 16:50

## Brainfuck

Took a while to get there, but I like the result:

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


When run, it will print 42, of course.

• Not even going to try (to beat or understand)... That does remind me of a lot of entries I've seen for the International Obfuscated C Code Contest. – Isiah Meadows Feb 23 '14 at 6:42
• I have to admit, the font styling of the code to show "42" is gorgeous... – WallyWest Feb 23 '14 at 6:56
• I wish they wrote the Linux kernel in brainfuck. – devnull Feb 23 '14 at 7:12
• Sadly, you've been outdone by grovesNL. – Blacklight Shining Feb 23 '14 at 13:58
• I agree. Their font doesn't look as nice as mine, but the nested output is a really cool idea. Also their code makes more sense than mine. I first designed the font as ascii art and then played around with the code to make it fit the 220 character count of the ascii art, so my code contains much pointless stuff. – Donarsson Feb 23 '14 at 14:05

# JavaScript:

var ________ = 0.023809523809523808, ____ = 1, ___ = 0, __ = 0, _ = 1;

__ -           ___
/_  |0        //     \\
/_/   0     //          \\
/_/_  |0                //
/_/_   |0              //
/_/____ |_           //
/________|0        //
|0     //______________


The output is:

42

Not bad, eh? :)

For the people who don't understand, it actually evaluates the following:

__ - ___ / _ | 0 / _ / 0 / _ / _ | 0 / _ / _ | 0 / _ / ____ | _ / ________ | 0 | 0

• Been coding JavaScript for years, but have no idea what that is facepalm – Songo Feb 24 '14 at 10:02
• @CarlWitthoft How it works is that _ is a valid variable name in JavaScript - and so is __, ___, ____, ________. – Toothbrush Feb 24 '14 at 14:29
• Many thanks. I'll file that (dangerous :-) ) info away for future use. – Carl Witthoft Feb 24 '14 at 14:42
• Who says programmers aren't creative! – Jonathan Feb 24 '14 at 21:04
• As someone who writes a lot of JavaScript daily... well done, you really stumped me for a while. I would of happily browsed past it and assumed some esolang. – George Reith Feb 25 '14 at 7:43

# C, Twelve Days of Xmas Style

New version:

main(Z,_){Z?(_=Z[" $X,X3Y<X@Z@[<XHZHX," " \\(Z(X0Z0Z8[@X@^8ZHZHX(Z(#Y(Z(X3[8" "\\@_8ZHXHXHX(Z( \\(Z(X0Z0Z8\\@_8ZIXI" "X(Z( \\,X0Z0Z8\\@_8ZHZHX,"])?main(0,_ -32),main(Z+1,_):0:(putchar((_>>3)["kt" "wy~|tE/42"]-37),(_&7)?main(0,_-1):0);}  Output: FFFFF OOOOO RRRR TTTTT Y Y TTTTT W W OOOOO F O O R R T Y Y T W W O O FFFF O O RRRR T Y T W W W O O F O O R R T Y T WW WW O O F OOOOO R R T Y T W W OOOOO  By the way, also check out my text-to-speech answer. Original Version: main(c,z,_){c==1?main(c+1,0,c^c):c==2? z=_["##$#%&#%#x'%%()&(%%x$%$((&(*%x'%"
"%((&(+%x'#%((&(%#x"],z?z=='x'?main(4,
_,c*5):main(c+1,z,0),main(c,z,_+1):0:c
==3?(_-2)==3?main(_-1,_,32):(main(c+1,
c,((2+c)*(z-35)+_)["six*nine= {   }  "
"   ;      _   ( ) [ 3 ]do {;=0xDA"]==
32?32:043),main(c,z,_+1)):putchar(_);}


The output is:

##### ##### ####  ##### #   #       ##### #   # #####
#     #   # #   #   #    # #          #   #   # #   #
####  #   # ####    #     #           #   # # # #   #
#     #   # #   #   #     #           #   ## ## #   #
#     ##### #   #   #     #           #   #   # #####


Alternate spacing, if you're feeling tacky:

        main(c     ,z,_){c==01?
main(c+     1,0,c^c):c==2
?z=_["#"     "#$#%&#%#x'%%" "()&(%%x" "$%$(" "(&(""*%x" "'%%(" "(&(" "+%x" "'#%(" "(&(" "%#x" ],z ?z =='x'?main(4,_ ,c*5):main(c +1,z,0),main(c ,z,_+1):00:c ==3?(_+-2)==3? main(_-1,_, 32):( main( c+1,c ,((2+ c)*(z -35)+ _)["" "six" "*ni" "ne= { } " " ;" " _ ( " ") [" " 3 ]do {;"]== 32?32 :043),main(c,z ,_+1) ):putchar(_);}  The program is a single recursive statement. I made it in the style of my favorite obfuscated C program ever, Twelve Days of Christmas (compile, prepare mind to be blown, run). ## HOW TO Also, since this seems as good a place as any, here is a guide describing how to make this type of program. This guide uses the original version above as an example. Aside from the first bit with the block letters, they are general steps: INITIAL: First, I started by making the block letters: ##### ##### #### ##### # # ##### # # ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # #### # # #### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ## # # # ##### # # # # # # # #####  I then made a numbered list of the unique patterns in each 5-column character row: 0: ***** 1: **** 2: * * 3: 4: * 5: * 6: * * 7: * * * 8: ** **  And so each of the 5 pixel rows of text becomes a series of 9 numbers: 00000 00000 11111 00000 22222 33333 00000 22222 00000 44444 22222 22222 55555 66666 33333 55555 22222 22222 11111 22222 11111 55555 55555 33333 55555 77777 22222 44444 22222 22222 55555 55555 33333 55555 88888 22222 44444 00000 22222 55555 55555 33333 55555 22222 00000  For obfuscation (and ease of programming) we add the '#' character to the numbers. In the program below, patterns is the array of pixel patterns, and lines is the obfuscated array of pattern codes for each line, terminated by an 'x'. For further obfuscation we define "on" pixels in patterns to be any character that isn't a space; this lets us put more misleading text in pattern: #include <stdio.h> char pattern[] = "six*n" "ine= " "{ }" " " "; " " _ " " ( ) " "[ 3 ]" "do {;"; char lines[] = "##$#%&#%#x"
"'%%()&(%%x"
"$%$((&(*%x"
"'%%((&(+%x"
"'#%((&(%#x";

void printpattern (char c) {
int n;
for (n = 0; n < 5; ++ n)
putchar(pattern[5*(c-'#') + n]==32?32:'#');
putchar(' ');
}

int main () {
char *ptr = lines;
while (*ptr) {
while (*ptr != 'x')
printpattern(*(ptr++));
putchar('\n');
++ ptr;
}
}


STEP 1: The next step involves a few tasks:

• Remove all loops and use recursion.
• Change all functions (except main) to the form int function (int, int) and use the same parameter names for each. The reasons will become clear later.
• Change main to the form int main (int, int, int) and name the last two parameters the same as your function parameter names.
• Replace all references to string constants with the strings themselves; and use each string only once if possible.
• The include can be removed; it's unnecessary for int putchar (int).

We can also take advantage of the weird C feature where a[b] is equivalent to b[a] to obfuscate further.

int printpattern (int z, int _) {
if (_==5)
putchar(' ');
else{
putchar((5*(z-'#') + _)["six*nine= {   }     ;      _   ( ) [ 3 ]do {;"]==32?32:'#');
printpattern(z, _+1);
}
return 0;
}

// z ignored, _ is index
int printtext (int z, int _) {
z = _["##$#%&#%#x'%%()&(%%x$%$((&(*%x'%%((&(+%x'#%((&(%#x"]; if (z) { if (z == 'x') putchar('\n'); else printpattern(z, 0); printtext(z, _ + 1); // first parameter arbitrary } return 0; } int main (int c, int z, int _) { printtext(0, 0); }  STEP 2: Next, make use of the ?: and , operators to transform each function into a single return statement. I'm illustrating this separately from the above because this is where things start getting confusing to look at. Remember that putchar() returns an int, and ?: takes precedence over ,: int printpattern (int z, int _) { return _==5 ? putchar(' ') : (putchar((5*(z-'#') + _)["six*nine= { } ; _ ( ) [ 3 ]do {;"]==32?32:'#'), printpattern(z, _+1)); } // z ignored, _ is index int printtext (int z, int _) { return z = _["##$#%&#%#x'%%()&(%%x$%$((&(*%x'%%((&(+%x'#%((&(%#x"],
z ?
z == 'x' ?
putchar('\n')
:
printpattern(z, 0)
,
printtext(z, _ + 1)
:
0;
}

int main (int c, int z, int _) {
printtext(0, 0);
}


STEP 3: Ok. The next step is a big one. All of the functions are now a single statement of the same form. We can now combine them all into a single function, identifying each one by a number -- essentially turning the entire program into a single recursive function. Note that the first parameter to main will be 1 when the program is run with no arguments, so that should be our initial state.

Also, since our parameter c to main is our state variable, we know its value at all times, and we can obfuscate a little further by replacing integer constants with their values in terms of c (for example, when we know c is 2, we can replace 5 with c+3). Other little obfuscations can be done too (e.g. I replaced '#' with 35 and 043):

int main (int c, int z, int _) {
switch (c) {
case 1: // main
return main(c+1, 0, c^c); // (2, 0, 0)
case 2: // printtext
return
z = _["##$#%&#%#x'%%()&(%%x$%$((&(*%x'%%((&(+%x'#%((&(%#x"], z ? z == 'x' ? putchar('\n') : main(c+1, z, 0) // c+1==3 , main(c, z, _ + 1) : 0; case 3: // printpattern return (_-2)==3 ? // _==5 putchar(' ') : (putchar(((2+c)*(z-35) + _)["six*nine= { } ; _ ( ) [ 3 ]do {;"]==32?32:043), main(c, z, _+1)); } }  STEP 4: Finally, remove the switch block by using a series of ?: operators. We can also remove the int declarations, since C will use them by default, as well as the return itself (which will generate a warning at worst). After this, our program is a single, recursive function with one statement. Pretty cool, right? Edit: I replaced putchar() with a main and c==4 below; because I just thought of it at the last minute: main (c, z, _) { c == 1 ? main(c+1, 0, c^c) : c == 2 ? z = _["##$#%&#%#x'%%()&(%%x$%$((&(*%x'%%((&(+%x'#%((&(%#x"],
z ?
z == 'x' ?
main(4,_,c*5)
:
main(c+1, z, 0)
,
main(c, z, _ + 1)
:
0
: c==3 ?
(_-2)==3 ?
main(_-1,_,32)
:
(main(c+1,c,((2+c)*(z-35) + _)["six*nine= {   }     ;      _   ( ) [ 3 ]do {;"]==32?32:043),
main(c, z, _+1))
: // c==4
putchar(_);
}


If you want to add a little flair, you can use more interesting numbers for c and even base the checks off of other numbers (e.g. for the c==2 case, z is ignored and available, so instead of calling main(2,z,_) you could call main(-97,_,_) and replace c==2 with c<-z). Be creative; the possibilities are endless.

FINISH: The final step, then, is to arrange the text in some creative pattern, and voila! You can adjust the code a little to help with formatting (e.g. I added some extra data at the end of the patterns string in the posted program to help get the line length right). The ladies are sure to be all up ons.

• Should I remove the guide? I kind of like the mystery without it. – Jason C Feb 24 '14 at 6:58
• I have updated the answer with a new version that is shorter and prints the letters in the output. The guide is based off the original version (still present). The new version stores the output as RLE data; the first long string is the data. – Jason C Feb 27 '14 at 6:13
• I so want to +1 this answer given you took the time to explain the "how" behind your solution, but it's currently at 42 rep, and I don't want to spoil that. ;) – Adam Parkin Mar 8 '14 at 0:00
• @AdamParkin Haha! Well here, if it gets to 43, it's your job to downvote it. – Jason C Mar 8 '14 at 0:12

I'm feeling lazy.

# Python

t
h
e
a
n
s
w
e
r
t
o

l
i
f
e

t
h
e
u
n
i
v
e
r
s
e

a
n
d
e
v
e
r
y
t
h
i
n
g:


Output:

  File "golf.py", line 42
g:
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax


# Java

(or C++, the code's almost similar)
Using String functions, so don't forget to include your library!

P.S. I know it's lengthy, but it's supposed to be creative, right? And anyway, it isn't a "lowest-byte-wins".

String s = "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy";
String s2 = "Don'tPanic";
String s3 = "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.";

int arthur_dent = s.length();
int ford_prefect = s2.length();
int zooey_deschanel = s3.length();
int vogon_poetry = arthur_dent + ford_prefect;

System.out.println("         " + vogon_poetry + "       " + zooey_deschanel + " " + zooey_deschanel); //in case you're confused, I'm using Zooey to print the big '2', and Vogons to print the big '4'.
System.out.println("       " + vogon_poetry + vogon_poetry + "     " + zooey_deschanel + "     " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println("     " + vogon_poetry + "  " + vogon_poetry + "    " + zooey_deschanel + "       " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println("   " + vogon_poetry + "    " + vogon_poetry + "            " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println(" " + vogon_poetry + "      " + vogon_poetry + "          " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println(vogon_poetry + " " + vogon_poetry + " " + vogon_poetry + " DA " + vogon_poetry + "     " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println("         " + vogon_poetry + "     " + zooey_deschanel);
System.out.println("         " + vogon_poetry + "    " + zooey_deschanel + " " + zooey_deschanel + " " + zooey_deschanel + " " + zooey_deschanel);


Here's the output:

         42       42 42
4242     42     42
42  42    42       42
42    42            42
42      42          42
42 42 42 DA 42     42
42     42
42    42 42 42 42


Imagine my misery when I counted and found out that "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" had 41 characters! :/ Sigh.

• why is there a 'DA' in the output? is it intentional? – Mohammad Feb 23 '14 at 9:40
• @user689 D ouglas A dams :) – mikhailcazi Feb 23 '14 at 9:41
• Actually 41 is also DA in a way (D is forth letter, A is the first). Cheer up! – vadchen Feb 23 '14 at 11:41
• 4-1 = 3 which means, •_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) Half Life 3 confirmed. – Mohd Abdul Mujib Feb 23 '14 at 18:42
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe has 41 characters + "\0" :DDD – enterx Feb 23 '14 at 22:04

# Mathematica

## Take 1

With some work, I ought be able to golf this down a bit. :)

In InputForm:

answer[ultimateQuestion[Life,theUniverse,Everything]] =
Times[Plus[-1,Limit[Power[Plus[1,Times[Complex[0,1],
Power[n,-1],Pi]],n],Rule[n,DirectedInfinity[1]]]],Sqrt[-1]^2,
Times[Rational[1,2],Plus[-1,Fibonacci[4]],Fibonacci[2]],
Binomial[3,2],LucasL[4]]


In TraditionalForm:

Testing:

answer[ultimateQuestion[Life,theUniverse,Everything]]


42

## Take 2

Note: The numerals were made as follows.

• "42" was first printed on the screen in very large font, axes displayed, so that the coordinates of the key points could be identified.
• Another "4" was drawn a broad straight lines connecting the respective key points. It was superimposed on the previously drawn "4" to check for accuracy. The "2" was drawn as a BSpline curve. Some of the key points, which were now control points, had to be set in position by trial and error to get the desired curves.
• An third coordinate (always zero) was added to the line and BSplineCurve to enable 3D display.

answer[ultimateQuestion[Life,theUniverse,Everything]]  =
Table[With[{v = RotationTransform[θ, {0, 0, 1}][{3, 0, -.2}]},
Graphics3D[{Thickness[.06], CapForm["Round"],
Tube[Line[{{-67, 0, -44}, {-30, 0, -44}}], 10],
Tube[
Line[{{-25, 0, -12}, {-100, 0, -12}, {-52, 0, 70}, {-45, 0, 70}, {-45, 0, -43}}], 10],
Tube[BSplineCurve[l = {{27, 0, 52}, {27, 0, 57}, {57, 0, 85}, {113, 0, 40},
{12, 0, -45}, {35, 0, -45}, {90, 0, -45}, {90, 0, -45}, {92, 0, -35}}], 10]},
Boxed -> False, PlotRange -> 100, ImageSize -> 250, SphericalRegion -> True,
ViewPoint :> v,
PlotRangePadding -> 10]],(*{θ,0,2Pi,Pi/24},*){θ, -Pi/2, -Pi/2 + 2 Pi, Pi/24}]



• Luckily it's not a golfing question :) seems to be a good helping of mathematical creativity in there... – cormullion Feb 23 '14 at 19:42
• Thanks. Mathematica certainly offers lots of options to explore. – DavidC Feb 23 '14 at 22:35
• Nice; wish I could go back in time and put that graphic on geocities.com/42, haha. – Jason C Feb 27 '14 at 6:24

Seems appropriate:

grep -i "DON'T" /bin/lesspipe | wc -l ; grep -i "PANIC" /usr/share/pyshared/mx/Log.py | head -n 1 | cut -d '=' -f 2 | tr -d ' '


Output:

4
2


Ubuntu 12.04, 64-bit Desktop

• +1 for don't panic – Milo Feb 23 '14 at 6:41
• It would be a bash-ism, but echo $(grep -i ... tr -d ' ') | sed 's/ //g' would put it all on one line. You could also use backquotes instead of the $() form, but that's harder to put in a comment here. – Mike Renfro Feb 24 '14 at 1:18
• upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/… – Cilan Mar 2 '14 at 18:14
• @MikeRenfro How is that a bashishm? $() is specified by the POSIX standard. – nyuszika7h Jun 1 '14 at 20:37 • Correct, I'm obviously out of date. Last time I checked (many years ago), I thought it was. May have been wrong then, too. – Mike Renfro Jun 1 '14 at 20:44 ## Windows calculator Multiplying Pi with 13.37 and ignoring the decimal :P • +1 because fractions are definitely not 1337. – Jason C Feb 25 '14 at 11:51 • A programmer's calculator would have been better but that calculator don't have (pie) – Mukul Kumar Mar 1 '14 at 17:06 • 1337 * math.pi / 100 – chroman Mar 3 '14 at 2:36 • round(1337 * math.pi/100) <-- One small change since pie are round. – Kevin Mar 13 '14 at 14:50 # Python I guess it only works on Windows 7. import win32api, win32con, win32gui from time import time, sleep import os w = { 1:[(358, 263), (358, 262), (358, 261), (359, 261), (359, 262), (359, 264), (359, 266), (359, 270), (359, 282), (358, 289), (357, 308), (356, 319), (355, 341), (355, 351), (355, 360), (355, 378), (355, 388), (354, 397), (354, 406), (354, 422), (354, 428), (354, 436), (354, 438), (354, 439), (354, 440), (355, 440), (356, 439), (357, 439), (358, 438), (360, 438), (362, 437), (369, 437), (372, 437), (381, 437), (386, 437), (391, 437), (397, 436), (411, 436), (419, 435), (434, 435), (442, 435), (449, 434), (456, 434), (468, 434), (473, 435), (480, 436), (483, 436), (485, 436), (487, 437), (488, 437), (488, 438), (488, 439), (487, 440), (486, 440), (485, 440), (484, 440), (483, 439), (483, 437), (481, 431), (481, 427), (481, 420), (481, 413), (483, 396), (485, 387), (488, 367), (491, 356), (493, 345), (500, 321), (503, 310), (507, 299), (514, 280), (517, 272), (520, 266), (523, 260), (524, 258), (524, 259), (524, 261), (524, 265), (524, 269), (523, 275), (522, 289), (521, 297), (518, 315), (516, 324), (515, 334), (513, 345), (509, 368), (507, 382), (502, 411), (500, 426), (498, 440), (495, 453), (491, 478), (489, 491), (485, 517), (483, 530), (481, 542), (479, 552), (476, 570), (475, 577), (474, 588), (473, 592), (473, 595), (473, 597), (473, 600), (473, 601), (473, 602), (473, 601), (474, 599), (475, 597), (476, 594), (478, 587)], 2:[(632, 305), (634, 306), (636, 309), (639, 314), (641, 319), (645, 330), (647, 337), (649, 353), (649, 362), (649, 372), (649, 384), (645, 409), (639, 436), (636, 448), (632, 459), (627, 470), (623, 479), (613, 497), (608, 503), (599, 512), (595, 514), (591, 514), (587, 513), (581, 504), (578, 498), (576, 483), (575, 476), (575, 469), (579, 454), (582, 447), (591, 436), (595, 432), (600, 430), (605, 429), (617, 432), (624, 437), (639, 448), (646, 455), (654, 461), (662, 469), (679, 484), (686, 491), (702, 504), (710, 509), (718, 512), (727, 514), (744, 515), (752, 515), (767, 512), (774, 510), (779, 508), (783, 505), (788, 499), (789, 495), (789, 486)] } def d( x1, y1, x2, y2 ): win32api.SetCursorPos((x1, y1)) win32api.mouse_event(win32con.MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTDOWN, 0, 0, 0, 0) win32api.SetCursorPos((x2, y2)) win32api.mouse_event(win32con.MOUSEEVENTF_LEFTUP, 0, 0, 0, 0) sleep(0.01) def p( l1 ): l2 = [""] l2.extend(l1) l1.append("") l3 = zip(l2, l1) l3.pop(0) l3.pop(-1) for n in l3: d(n[0][0], n[0][1], n[1][0], n[1][1]) os.startfile("C:\Windows\system32\mspaint.exe") sleep(0.5) win32gui.ShowWindow(win32gui.GetForegroundWindow(), win32con.SW_MAXIMIZE) sleep(0.5) for n in w: p(w[n])  The result is opening Paint and painting 42 as free hand. • I don't have win32api :( Wanted to see that... Still +1 though :D – Timtech Feb 26 '14 at 22:31 • I don't use windows, so I can't run it; but your way is brilliant. – hola Jul 31 '14 at 19:01 • I wanted to upvote this, but this has exactly 42 upvotes, don't want to mess that up. – Rohcana Sep 5 '15 at 17:23 ## Java (Swing) This will display a frame drawing the answer. It only uses 42 for values. public class FourtyTwo{ public static void main(String[]args) { new javax .swing. JFrame () {{ setSize (42 /( 42/42 +42/42) *42/ ( 42/42 +42/42) ,42/(42/ 42+42/42)* 42/(42/42+42/42)); }public void paint( java.awt .Graphics g){g.drawPolygon( new int[]{42,42,42 + 42+ 42,42+ 42+42 ,42+42 +42 + 42,42+ 42+42 +42,42 + 42+ 42,42+42+42,42+42, 42+42 },new int[]{42,42+ 42+42 +42,42+42+42+42,42 +42+42+42+42+42, 42+42+ 42+42+42+42,42,42, 42+42+42 ,42 + 42+42 ,42}, (42/ 42+42 /42)* (42/ 42 + 42/42 + 42/ 42 + 42 / 42+42 /42)) ;g.drawPolygon ( new int[] {42+42+42+42+42, 42+42 +42 + 42+42 , 42+ 42+42 + 42+ 42+42 + 42, 42+42 +42 + 42+42 +42 + 42,42+42+42+42+42, 42+42 + 42+ 42+42,42+ 42+42+ 42+42 +42 + 42+42,42+42+42+42+42+42+42+42,42+42+42+42+42+42, 42+42+42+42+42+42,42+42+42+42+42+42+42+42,42+42+ 42+42+42+42+42+42},new int[]{42,42 +42,42+42,42+ 42+42,42+42+42,42+42+42+42+42+42,42+42+42+42+42+ 42,42+42+42+42+42,42+42+42+42+42,42+42+42+42,42+ 42+42+42,42},(42/42+42/42+42/42)*((42/42+42/42)* (42/42+42/ 42)));};}.setVisible(42*42*42!=42);}}  • +1 for the "I-just-spent-a-ton-of-time-formatting-this-and-I-really-don't-feel-like-working-the-leftovers-in" block at the bottom, haha. – Jason C Feb 27 '14 at 9:16 • @JasonC That's exactly what I thought! ;D Tomorrow, I'll work on a program which formats code to ASCII art and I'll be rich! – bobbel Feb 27 '14 at 9:20 • I started to do this with mine and quickly gave up. Nice job. – ChiefTwoPencils Feb 28 '14 at 9:40 ### Mathematica WolframAlpha["meaning of life", {{"Result", 1}, "Content"}]  42 though I think it's cheating, really, since it's hard-coded. And not very creative, on my part... :) ## Ruby It is well known what you get if you multiply six by nine. This gives one solution: puts (6 * 9).to_s(13)  ## Python A variant of Tupper's self-referential formula: # Based loosely on http://www.pypedia.com/index.php/Tupper_self_referential_formula k = 17 * ( (2**17)**0 * 0b11100000000000000 + (2**17)**1 * 0b00100000000000000 + (2**17)**2 * 0b00100000000000000 + (2**17)**3 * 0b11111000000000000 + (2**17)**4 * 0b00100000000000000 + (2**17)**5 * 0b00000000000000000 + (2**17)**6 * 0b01001000000000000 + (2**17)**7 * 0b10011000000000000 + (2**17)**8 * 0b10011000000000000 + (2**17)**9 * 0b01101000000000000 + 0) # or if you prefer, k=int('4j6h0e8x4fl0deshova5fsap4gq0glw0lc',36) def f(x,y): return y // 17 // 2**(x * 17 + y % 17) % 2 > 0.5 for y in range(k + 16, k + 11, -1): print("".join(" @"[f(x, y)] for x in range(10)))  Output: @ @ @@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@ @ @@@@  • Unfortunately, as your Wikipedia link points out, DNA rejects the first method of producing 42: "I may be a sorry case, but I don't write jokes in base 13." – LSpice Mar 3 '14 at 2:24 Javascript alert((!![]+ -~[])*(!![]+ -~[])+""+(!![]+ -~[]))  • Another one that gave me a WTF moment until I realised true == 1. – George Reith Feb 25 '14 at 7:53 • ALERT! WEIRD ASCII CATERPILLARS! USE EXTREME CAUTION! – Jason C Feb 27 '14 at 9:15 • Use [] instead of "" ([] == '')! alert((!![]+-~[])*(!![]+-~[])+[]+(!![]+-~[])) – Toothbrush Aug 21 '15 at 11:28 • (!-[] === true) && (!~[] === false). You can also substitute {} for []. – Toothbrush Aug 21 '15 at 11:29 • How about (!!{}+!-[]<<-~{})+[]+(!-[]+-~[])? – Toothbrush Aug 21 '15 at 11:40 # LMGTFY http://bit.ly/1ldqJ8w Short enough that I had to type this to reach the minimum character count... Forth: SCR # 1 0 ( FORTY-TWO @ ES-FORTH ) 1 HEX 0 24 -31 21 -31 31 -31 2 31 -14 51 11 -11 51 11 -11 23 31 3 : T SWAP 0 DO DUP EMIT LOOP DROP ; 4 : K BEGIN DUP WHILE DUP 0< IF CR 5 ABS THEN 10 /MOD 20 T A0 T 6 REPEAT DROP ; 7 K CR  That 1 LOAD outputs:  █ ███ █ █ █ █ █ █ ████ █ █ █ █ █ █ ████  # C++ cout<<"....-"<<" "<<"..---";  Morse code ;) # R sum(as.numeric(factor(unlist(strsplit(gsub(" |[.]","","D. ADAMS"),"")),levels=LETTERS)))  Result: 42  Java public class MainProgram { public static void main(String[] args) { int[] the = { 'T', 'h', 'e' }; int[] most = { 'M', 'o', 's', 't' }; int[] creative = { 'C', 'r', 'e', 'a', 't', 'i', 'v', 'e' }; int[] way = { 'W', 'a', 'y' }; int question = '?'; double x = -3.18906605923E-2; int The = 0; int Most = 0; int Creative = 0; int Way = 0; for(int i : the) { The += i; } for(int i : most) { Most += i; } for(int i : creative) { Creative += i; } for(int i : way) { Way += i; } System.out.println((int)((The*x)-(Most*x)-(Creative*x)-(Way*x)-(question*x))); }//SSCE }//good1  Output: 42 • +1 for employing an interesting linear equation, good job! – recursion.ninja Jun 26 '14 at 18:48 SWI-Prolog, anyone? ?- X.  Output: % ... 1,000,000 ............ 10,000,000 years later % % >> 42 << (last release gives the question)  This is even lazier than the Mathematica-calling-Wolfram-Alpha one, but hey! • Welcome to Code-Golf! Don't forget to add an explanation on why this answer is creative! – Justin Feb 24 '14 at 5:48 • @Quincunx It's an easter egg in SWI-Prolog. – svick Feb 24 '14 at 14:30 # Linux shell Here’s something I wrote in 1999 and used as my Usenet signature back then. echo "what is the universe"|tr "a-z " 0-7-0-729|sed 's/9.//g;s/-/+/'|bc  Edit: Ha! This was the 42nd answer. PHP version:  echo strlen("Douglas Adams")+strlen("born on")+array_sum(array(1,1,0,3,1,9,5,2)); /* array(1,1,0,3,1,9,5,2) => March 11, 1952 */  JavaScript version:  console.log("Douglas Adams".length + "born on".length + [1,1,0,3,1,9,5,2].reduce(function(previousValue, currentValue, index, array){return previousValue + currentValue;})); /* [1,1,0,3,1,9,5,2] => March 11, 1952 */  Output:  42  • I’ll never understand how any sane human can write a date in this order. The fact that you have to put a comment there, proves how useless this format is. – bodo Feb 24 '14 at 11:48 • @canaaerus I have just used the date in a specific format so that it can be processed by a program to arrive at 42. I tried various other human readable ways, and this was the closest that I could transform the date to arrive at the solution. – palerdot Feb 24 '14 at 12:00 • @canaaerus I'll never understand how Americans can write dates as mm/dd/yy, either. If you say 04/03/11, I'd read it as the 4th of March, 2011 - not the 3rd of April. – Toothbrush Feb 24 '14 at 15:02 • @palerdot. As far as I know, only US-Americans (and occasionally Canadians) write dates in that weird, confusing, "middle-endian" manner. – TRiG Feb 24 '14 at 18:57 • @TRiG: What do you expect? We, aside from those of us in science and engineering fields, shun the more intuitive and logical metric system too.?. – ChiefTwoPencils Feb 25 '14 at 20:46 # dc $ dc <<< "1 8 sc 1 5 lc *++p"
42


Trying to multiply 1+8 and 5+1 to get 42. It looks like that ignorance of operator precedence led to 42.

# Python

>>> p = lambda x: x%2!=0 and True<<x
>>> sum(p(i) for i in range(0,6))


Output: 42

# bash

(Multiplying 6 by 9)

$echo "obase=13;6*9"|bc|figlet _ _ ____ | || ||___ \ | || |_ __) | |__ _/ __/ |_||_____|  # C #include <stdio.h> int main(){printf("%d",fprintf(fopen("/dev/null","w"), "so-popularity-contest\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b"));}  Output: 42 • Did you notice the use of backspace characters? • Do you know what do those result in? • No ..please explain! – Antonio Ragagnin Feb 23 '14 at 18:44 • The backspace characters pad the string to a length of 42 bytes. So first fopen is used to open the null device for write access. Then fprintf writes 42 bytes to null, returning the numbers of bytes written. Finally that 42 is formatted by the printf function's "%d" format string to display 42. I like it! – CasaDeRobison Feb 24 '14 at 9:28 ## Brainf**k - [ -- - - - >+<] >+ . --.  • Does this depend on an overflow in the interpreter? – Cruncher Feb 25 '14 at 16:38 • Yeah, looks like it assumes overflow to 255. 255/5 = 51 + 1 = 52 which is character code for 4. I don't think all interpreters do this, but +1 – Cruncher Feb 25 '14 at 16:41 • @Cruncher It needs 8-bit wrapping cells. This is the most common type. – Timtech Feb 25 '14 at 23:50 # C++ #include<iostream> #include<conio.h> using namespace std; int main() { cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)66<<(char)73<<(char)82; cout<<(char)84<<(char)72<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)68<<(char)69; cout<<(char)65<<(char)84<<(char)72; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)47<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)124<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)124<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)95<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)124<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)32<<(char)47<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)49<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)50<<(char)124<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)47<<(char)32; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)57<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)84<<(char)79<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)47<<(char)48; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)124<<(char)53<<(char)124; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)47<<(char)48<<(char)47; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)124<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)124<<(char)50<<(char)124; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)49<<(char)47<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)47<<(char)32; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)47<<(char)32<<(char)47; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)32<<'\n'; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)32; cout<<(char)124<<(char)95<<(char)124; cout<<(char)32<<(char)32<<(char)124; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)95<<(char)95; cout<<(char)95<<(char)124<<'\n'; getch(); return 0; }  ## output • Output: 1>c:\users\1 and 2 is 3\documents\visual studio 2012\projects\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1.cpp(87): error C4996: 'getch': The POSIX name for this item is deprecated. Instead, use the ISO C++ conformant name: _getch. See online help for details. – user10766 Feb 23 '14 at 19:27 • Cool, once I fixed it. – user10766 Feb 23 '14 at 19:28 • @user2509848 what was the error ? – Mukul Kumar Feb 24 '14 at 16:48 • Posted it in the first comment. Visual Studio wanted getch to be _getch instead. – user10766 Feb 24 '14 at 16:49 # JavaScript window.location = "https://www.google.nl/search?q=the+answer+to+life+the+universe+and+everything";  Outputs 42. # J Symmetric one-liner without alphanumeric chars.  _<.>.>_ (=(+^:]) ~=(-*-)=~ ([:^+)=) _<.<.>_  Outputs 42. The main computation is: ceiling( 1 + ( 1 - e ^ 2 ) ^ 2 ) = 42 ## JavaScript The ASCII code for *, which for most programmers stands for "everything", is 42. +!"The End of the Universe" evaluates to 0. String.prototype.answer = function() { alert(this.charCodeAt(+!"The End of the Universe")); }; '*'.answer();  • I prefer to think of it as a Kleene Star. – primo Feb 25 '14 at 9:39 • You could also write "The End of the Universe"|0 – Toothbrush Aug 21 '15 at 11:47 ## PHP Ask WolframAlpha. Here's some code that uses the WolframAlpha API to retrieve the result of a specific search query: <?php$searchTerm = "What's the answer to life, universe and everything?";

$url = 'http://api.wolframalpha.com/v2/query?appid=APLTT9-9WG78GYE65&input='.urlencode($searchTerm);
$xml = file_get_contents($url);

$xmlObj = simplexml_load_string($xml);
$plaintext =$xmlObj->xpath('//plaintext')[1];
$answer = preg_replace('/\D/', '',$plaintext);


42