Please explain the working of this program.

[wanguard]

Here is a program I found here

#include <stdio.h>
main(t,_,a)char *a;{return!0<t?t<3?main(-79,-13,a+main(-87,1-_,
main(-86,0,a+1)+a)):1,t<_?main(t+1,_,a):3,main(-94,-27+t,a)&&t==2?_<13?
main(2,_+1,"%s %d %d\n"):9:16:t<0?t<-72?main(_,t,
"@n'+,#'/*{}w+/w#cdnr/+,{}r/*de}+,/*{*+,/w{%+,/w#q#n+,/#{l+,/n{n+,/+#n+,/#\
;#q#n+,/+k#;*+,/'r :'d*'3,}{w+K w'K:'+}e#';dq#'l \
q#'+d'K#!/+k#;q#'r}eKK#}w'r}eKK{nl]'/#;#q#n'){)#}w'){){nl]'/+#n';d}rw' i;# \
){nl]!/n{n#'; r{#w'r nc{nl]'/#{l,+'K {rw' iK{;[{nl]'/w#q#n'wk nw' \
iwk{KK{nl]!/w{%'l##w#' i; :{nl]'/*{q#'ld;r'}{nlwb!/*de}'c \
;;{nl'-{}rw]'/+,}##'*}#nc,',#nw]'/+kd'+e}+;#'rdq#w! nr'/ ') }+}{rl#'{n' ')# \
}'+}##(!!/")
:t<-50?_==*a?putchar(31[a]):main(-65,_,a+1):main((*a=='/')+t,_,a+1)
  :0<t?main(2,2,"%s"):*a=='/'||main(0,main(-61,*a,
"!ek;dc i@bK'(q)-[w]*%n+r3#l,{}:\nuwloca-O;m .vpbks,fxntdCeghiry"),a+1);}

Since I am new to "C", can anyone explain to me how this program works.

[Narue]

can anyone explain to me how this program works.

Can I? Yes, this program is actually very well known as it was an early winner of the IOCCC. Will I explain it to you? No, IOCCC programs are written by very clever people, and the techniques implemented are virtually useless outside of the contest and often non-portable. As a beginner to C you'd be wise to learn from well written code rather than intentionally bad code.

[wanguard]

@Narue Thanks for the advice, But I'm curious, what thing makes this program print out a rhyme rather than a compiler error.

[wanguard]

I don't think they are non-portable, I compiled them and found a fair amount of success under Code::Blocks 10.05.

[Narue]

what thing makes this program print out a rhyme rather than a compiler error

It's not invalid code[1], just very difficult to read. If you really want to understand it, a good start would be reformatting the code into something more sensible. That alone is a decent exercise, but not one I would recommend for a beginner. As already mentioned, at this point you'll learn more by studying good code than intentionally bad code.

I don't think they are non-portable, I compiled them and found a fair amount of success under Code::Blocks 10.05.

So you tested them on one version of one compiler, had a "fair amount" of success, and have the rocks to say that they're portable? Do you understand what portable means?

[1] Technically it is invalid because it's K&R C rather than standard C (the entry was for the 1988 IOCCC, if I recall correctly). Modern compilers will probably fail to run it even if they don't choke on the pre-standard syntax.

[wanguard]

Well, I consider the thread as solved. Thanks for the small tidbits of info on the code.