10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
A single line of code sends readers into a labyrinth
This one-line program in Commodore 64 Basic was demonstrated by Casey Reas running under the Vice emulator at the 2011 Eyeo Festival. It uses the PETSCII character set, specifically the line character code of 205.5, plus a random number between 0 and 1, which alternates between the / and \ characters, and then repeats without causing line breaks.
MIT Press has published a book on this one line of code, 0 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 along with a a free pdf version.
"This book takes a single line of code--the extremely concise BASIC program for the Commodore 64 inscribed in the title--and uses it as a lens through which to consider the phenomenon of creative computing and the way computer programs exist in culture. The authors of this collaboratively written book treat code not as merely functional but as a text--in the case of 10 PRINT, a text that appeared in many different printed sources--that yields a story about its making, its purpose, its assumptions, and more. They consider randomness and regularity in computing and art, the maze in culture, the popular BASIC programming language, and the highly influential Commodore 64 computer."
The online magazine Slate has a good review of the the book.
