Howdy :)

Update:Approximately 30 seconds after posting this (arg!), I found this link which talks about this phenomena.

(Apologies in advance if this has been covered previously)

Some people may be aware of the phenomena whereby if you take a phrase and rearrange the letters in each word - but keep the first and last letters in place - then the phrase as a whole remains readable. (There is probably a name for this, but I don't know what it is).

As a novice Perl programmer, I thought it would be a fun exercise to see how I could take a series of phrases and "scramble" them in this way.

So this is my attempt at it:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use List::Util qw(shuffle);

while (<DATA>) {
    my @words = split;
    WORD:
    for my $word (@words) {
        my $offset = $word =~ /[\.\,]$/ ? 2 : 1;
        my @letters = split //, $word;
        my $numletters = @letters;
        next WORD if $numletters < 4;

        $word = join("",
                $letters[0],
                shuffle(@letters[1 .. $#letters-$offset]),
                @letters[-$offset .. -1]
                );
    }
    print "@words\n";
}

__DATA__
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is pa
+ved with melting snowballs.
Although the Perl Slogan is There's More Than One Way to Do It, I hesi
+tate to make 10 ways to do something.
And don't tell me there isn't one bit of difference between null and s
+pace, because that's exactly how much difference there is.
Randal said it would be tough to do in sed. He didn't say he didn't un
+derstand sed. Randal understands sed quite well. Which is why he uses
+ Perl.
As usual, I'm overstating the case to knock a few neurons loose, but t
+he truth is usually somewhere in the muddle, uh, middle.
Of course, I reserve the right to make wholly stupid changes to Perl i
+f I think they improve the language.
[download]

Of course, the output is different on every run - but here is an example:

Dwon that ptah leis msenads. On the oethr hand, the raod to hell is pv
+aed with mlinetg sblwlonas.
Agohutlh the Perl Sgalon is Treeh's More Tahn One Way to Do It, I hasi
+tete to mkae 10 wyas to do snmoiehtg.
And dn'ot tell me there in'st one bit of diferefcne beweetn nlul and s
+cpae, becasue ta'hts elxctay how much drcinefefe tehre is.
Rdanal said it would be tough to do in sed. He dd'nit say he dd'int un
+datenrsd sed. Ranadl uenadnsdrts sed qitue wlel. Wchih is why he uess
+ Prel.
As uausl, I'm osvtneatirg the case to kocnk a few nurnoes lsooe, but t
+he ttruh is uualsly semwerohe in the mdudle, uh, mldide.
Of cusore, I reevsre the rhgit to mkae wohlly sptiud cgeanhs to Perl i
+f I thnik they ivopmre the lgagunae.
[download]

For those that are interested, I'd be really keen to see how well this can be "golfed". The rules are simple:

1. Take a single line of text (a phrase - in this case, some Larry Wall quotes) as input.
2. Split the phrase into words (on whitespace).
3. Skip any words containing less than 4 letters.
4. Shuffle the letters in each word, keeping the first and last in place.
5. If a "word" ends with a comma/period, keep the comma/period in place as well as the preceeding letter.
6. Reconstruct the phrase with the shuffled words and print it.

Cheers,
--Darren :)

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