I got good feedback with this code guide in December from some lurkers.
That was in December when I typed it up, like I said >>4383 here. Those turds are long gone. It was written specifically for creating the grid, so I don't know how useful it'll be to VA learning to be a proper programmer, but since he doesn't seem to be paying attention to the thread right now I may as well post it and he can just ignore it if it doesn't teach him anything new.
The following hasn't been modified since I wrote it in December, and I don't mind if anyone thinks they can do a better job and wants to do write their own version.
How to run the code and create the grid for complete computer science newfags:
(Note: I'll format this properly later. I need to go take a shit so I'm in a rush)
So there are a bunch of weird words, numbers and punctuation marks in uneven spacing across a
page. How do you take that and make it do what it's meant to do? The most basic explanation is that
you need to save it as a specific kind of file, and then run it. You can do this with a piece of software
called an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). I'll explain step-by-step for anyone who just
wants to make the grid and mess around with it.
Step 1 - pick a language
This program has been ported (meaning rewritten in a different language) in several different
languages. Languages are like different formats of computer code. You use different words to
achieve different things, and you format them slightly differently. The original VQC code that the
VQC tripfag posted is in a language called C#. There are ports in langauges called Java, Python and
Rust (there might be others I'm not aware of). Something to note when you decide which language
to use is that some programming languages don't work straight away on every computer or every
operating system. You might have to install some extra files. If you run into problems later on, try a
different language, or figure out what files you're missing or what needs to be updated. Otherwise,
bitch in the explanations thread that I didn't explain this well enough. I haven't had to do that kind
of thing for a long time so I don't remember which languages just work and which don't on
whichever operating system.
Step 2 - get an IDE
Each of these languages has many different IDEs that you can use to save and run the code. Some
IDEs are language-specific, and some of them can work with several different languages. If you
want to use the original C# program, you'll need an IDE that works with C#. If you're using
Windows, there's one called Visual Studio. If you're using Linux (I think it works for Macs too),
there's one called Mono. IDEs tend to be free, so you just have to look this software up on the
internet, download it and install it. If you're using Java (which I've been using, and which I can
probably explain in greater detail), there's one for Windows called Dr Java, and another for Linux
called Emacs (Emacs works with most languages I'm pretty sure). There's a Python IDE for Linux
called PyCharm. I haven't used Rust before so I don't know about any Rust IDEs. There are tons of
IDEs in general, so you don't necessarily have to follow my recommendations.
Step 3 - put the code into the IDE and save the file
IDEs are a kind of software that tend to have a big empty space for you to paste or type some text
into. Some of them might make it a little difficult to figure out how to create a file, but there tend to
be IDE-specific guides on places like YouTube or whatever. Create a file and paste the code from
one of the pastebins in. Part of this program saves a few files, and it saves them in the same folder
as your program. Make sure you save your file somewhere you know the location of. Most IDEs
will save the program in the format of the language you're using, but in case they don't, Python files
are saved as .py files, Java files are saved as .java files, and C# files are saved as .cs files (again, I'm
not familiar with Rust). Some languages require you to save the file as the same name used to name
the class (without needing to know what a class is, it'll tend to be in the first line of code after all the
lines that say something about "import xyzthing", when it says something like "public class
Factorizer"). With the Java version, for example, you'll need to call it "Factorizer.java".
Step 4 - you might have to do a little extra to the code
In some languages, you have to do what's called compiling. This turns the code into a slightly
different file which the computer can more closely understand. This will be the case if you're using
Java. The IDE (or, if you're using Linux, the terminal) will have to make sure all of the code makes
sense and isn't typed in wrong. If it is, it'll tell you, so you can fix it. If it works, it'll create a .classfile. If you're using an IDE, there will be an option somewhere that says something about compiling
the code. If you are using the terminal to compile, you'll first have to get the terminal to the correct
folder. If you're using Linux (I can't remember it with Windows but it's similar, and, long story
short, it's almost identical on OSX but you might have to look it up), you'll need to know the folder
path from the root folder (the folder where all the other folders come from), and you'll need to type
into the terminal (without quotation marks) "cd /home/whateveryournameis/folder/folderagain/etc",
obviously replacing the folder path with your folder path. You'll then need to compile using a
command specific to the language you're using. If you're using Java, you'll need to type in "javac
Factorizer.java". javac is the name of a piece of software the terminal can use to compile Java code.
There are other more specific ones for the other languages. If you're using an IDE that can compile
and run code, you won't have to worry about this.
Step 5 - run the code
Most IDEs will have a button or a selection option thing in one of the things at the top of the page
(File, Edit etc) that says something about running the code. If you're using Emacs or some other
IDEs, you'll have to do it with terminal commands. For example, if you used Java with Emacs, after
you compile you'll have to type "java Factorizer" into the terminal, and once the terminal shows
your computer's name again, it'll be done.
Step 6 - open the .csv file, look at the image
If you have a version of the code with image generation, you'll find a .png with a bunch of dots in a
crazy pattern on it. You won't have to do anything weird to open it. It's just an image. To open the
.csv file, you'll need software that opens spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Excel. Two examples of
other completely free spreadsheet programs are OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
I see you already figured this out, but if you're having trouble with file paths in the future, go into the terminal, type "pwd" and press enter, then go to the correct folder in the path you would take from the folder that shows up (if you need to go to a higher folder you can type "cd .." a few times, or if it's within the current folder you'd type "cd" and then the rest of the file path), then when you're in the correct place use pwd again and copy and paste the text that comes out into your code.
Good to hear that it wasn't hard to understand or anything. I've been told I'm good at explaining things so back when I barely understood anything about the grid I thought it was a good way to be useful aside from just running the board and wasting my time on binary search. Even if you don't stick around here all day like a NEET, the fact that you found your way here shows you're probably helping more than you realize.
For any lurkers, the terminal thing is for Mac and Linux computers (because they use very similar terminals). The command line in Windows uses different commands (i.e. you have to type different words in to get the same results as a Unix command) and I haven't used it much so I couldn't recite any off the top of my head. Look them up. You're on the internet, after all.
Even still, I was talking to someone in RSA #9 about it and they still refused to look at the VQC hints pdf. I don't mind just copying and pasting some text for those people.
>We almost entered a dictatorship here in USA last election.
And had you, the rest of the world was doomed too for sure. I'm very far away and I was honestly pretty worried myself; now that all of this has started happening, I'm starting to think I know more about US politics than I do my own country's. You should feel lucky that you have front row seats (although I feel lucky that I'm further away from false flags).
Try just putting "monodevelop" into terminal (if you didn't know, you can put " &" afterwards to keep using the terminal after you've run a command, too). If that doesn't work you've probably installed part of Mono but not all of it. I've also had a lot of problems with that program. I've just been working on and using the Java version myself.
If you open the "Run" dropdown menu at the top of the screen in Mono there should be options telling you to either debug the program or run it or some other things. That should theoretically make it work (I'd assume you'd debug it and then it would let you run it). If you happen to be in the same unexplainable situation as me in which all of those options are greyed out, let me tell you now, I've looked everywhere for an explanation and found nothing. In that case, you'll have to save the code as a .cs file (if Mono doesn't let you, a text editor like Emacs or Gedit will let you), go into terminal, get to the location of the file, then run the following two commands:
mcs -out:yourvqcfilename.exe yourvqcfilename.cs
mono yourvqcfilename.exe
This is all assuming you're using a Linux distribution and you have Mono installed, so to address lurkers again, you might have other problems I'm not aware of. Again, I'm not really a C# person. I just know enough to run the VQC.
I've never had Mono actually work properly so I've never seen that screen. Maybe that means that it debugged and there were no bugs. Do you have an option that tells you it'll run the program? Maybe the one that says "Start without debugging". It might also just take a minute. If you've done all of that stuff and there isn't an "output.csv" file in the folder where your code file is, you might have to do the terminal version.
If you aren't getting any errors then the terminal version should work with no issues.
Do keep in mind, you have other options, since the code has been rewritten in several languages. At least in my experience and from what I've seen on this board, C# seems to be the most troublesome language out of all the current versions. If you give up, you can use a different language. It'll be the afternoon my time then so I'll probably be around, but there are several other anons who can help you if not.
Each program has a bunch of those method things (e.g. CreateTheEnd in that screenshot). They're all big chunks of code that do a bunch of operations within some curly braces. They're like functions of the program, kind of like if your program was car.cs, and it had methods called Drive, Park, GetStuckInTraffic, etc. They make sense on their own, but they need this thing called a main method to actually get executed. Otherwise, they're just possible things you can do with your program but they're just sitting there not being used. The program uses the main method to decide when to do what. You can also put more calculations and things in the main method, but what I'm getting at is that you need to have a main method in which you call those functions. It's just like those other methods there except you need to follow a few default values and things. If you don't feel like delving into that, just copy and paste my code below between the theend Dictionary thing and the start of CreateTheEnd (so on line 10 of your screenshot).
I haven't actually looked at my version of the C# code since December, but this is the main method I used:public static void Main (String[] args){ string path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(); CreateTheEnd(512, 0, 0, 64, 64); Output(256, -64, 0, 64, 64, 12);}
It doesn't make an image the way it currently is, but if you want to generate the grid that's all you should need.
Several of us use Java so you might find that easy. All you'd have to do is copy the Java version from the pastebin link (it's floating around somewhere), put it either into a text editor or a Java IDE and save it as a .java file (with the filename the same thing as the class name), then go into terminal and do >>4470 this.