DOOM's DNA - Code structure fingerprint across 44 ports
Show HN: The DNA of DOOM – How code structure survives across 44 ports
DOOM's DNA is an interactive software archaeology study that reveals how code structure survives across 44 ports and translations of DOOM. By stripping away names and comments, it measures each program's shape—function lengths, branches, and call patterns—to trace ancestry like a genetic fingerprint. The tool identifies copies with 93% accuracy and shows that even translations into Go and Scheme retain DOOM's wiring, while unrelated code like Quake shares almost nothing. Explore the family tree, follow individual functions, and see which parts of the original blueprint persist.
Hide every name, and a Go port's functions still land in the right part of DOOM 60% of the time. Guessing manages 20%.
- blinkbat
could be an interesting idea if the article wasn't slop as pure as the driven