Hello, Mr. Major General

1026 It Was Just Too Impressive

“Professor He, the situation at hand is... It took my computer all night last night, but I still couldn’t find anything...” Gu Nianzhi was getting a little frustrated. She had never encountered such a situation before.

He Zhichu coughed lightly, then said to Gu Nianzhi, “Nianzhi, I want to ask you, are you familiar with the programming language Prolog?”

“Prolog? Programming-In-Logic?” Gu Nianzhi didn’t miss a beat. “I am, in fact. However, this programming language is not widely used, and is still in its experimental stages.”

“And do you know why it is not widely used?” He Zhichu was like a professor trying to facilitate creative thinking for Gu Nianzhi. He spoke as if this was a lecture in a classroom.

“Prolog, also known as Programming-In-Logic, as its name implies, is a programming language based on logical reasoning, which is also a form of programming that uses artificial intelligence. The current level of computer hardware is fairly restricted and therefore cannot support wide-scale usage of such programming languages. Therefore, its practical usage is basically zero.”

“Correct. Now how does it differ from ordinary programming languages?” He Zhichu looked up at the bright sun outside the window and squinted.

“Uh, is this some sort of test?”

“Aren’t you a self-proclaimed genius computer geek? Let me see how well you have mastered the basics.” He Zhichu teased, pulling the curtains down with his delicate, elongated fingers. He walked to his desk, sat down, and opened his computer.

Gu Nianzhi grinned and said, “Well, this is how I interpret it... In usual programming languages, programmers have the dominant position. All their lines of code are clear-cut commands for the computer. But a declarative programming language such as Prolog merely sets logical rules for the computer, and then lets the computer determine how to proceed according to the logic of the computation.”

“For example, when using a common programming language to let a computer calculate a logarithm, the programmer first teaches the computer how to multiply, divide, and then add and subtract. Then, the computer performs calculations strictly based upon the calculation order set by the programmer. From this perspective, the computer executes the programmer’s commands, and therefore never makes a mistake. If there is a mistake, it can only be the fault of the programmer writing the wrong program.”

“But logical programming languages like Prolog processes data according to logical rules, not by simply adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.”

“The simplest logical relationship is such. The first example is that Xiaohong is a person, Xiaoli is also a person, and the two like each other. Then you set the rules for judgment. People who like each other are friends. Then, when you enter that Xiaohong likes Xiaoli and that Xiaoli also likes Xiaohong, the computer will automatically conclude that they are friends. Then, any proceeding logical mechanisms will be based on the premise that they are friends.”

He Zhichu nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad! Reducing complex matters into simpler ones is how it operates. But this is the most fundamental description. Have you ever used Prolog for programming before?”

Gu Nianzhi thought for a while and shook her head, saying, “I’ve tried a few times, but have never done so on a large scale.”

The most practical skill set she’d gained from Zhao Liangze was hacking expertise, and this meant that she had a thorough understanding of the functioning of existing widely-used software programs. This was because, in most basic terms, the nature of a hacker’s job is cracking codes.

The most potent hacker was capable of cracking all programs. Yet artificial intelligence programming language was not based on practice usage and therefore did not need to be cracked. Therefore, Gu Nianzhi had a relatively limited understanding concerning this domain of study.

“It’s such a pity. If you have the chance, try using Prolog programming more. Some issues may be easier to resolve,” He Chu reminded her meaningfully.

Gu Nianzhi initially did not hear the implied meaning behind He Zhichu’s words. She merely shrugged and said, “But intelligent programming is closely related to the artificial intelligence of computers. Until there can be a breakthrough discovery in terms of artificial intelligence, these intelligent programming languages ​​can only be niche players in the programming world, so why waste time on this? After artificial intelligence becomes more popular, I’ll still have time to study how to crack it.”

He Zhichu shook his head in disapproval. “Nianzhi, as far as I know, this artificial intelligence programming language is already a semi-finished product in military laboratories in some countries. A semi-finished military product. Do you understand the meaning of this?”

Gu Nianzhi felt at loss for words. Due to He Zhichi’s identity and status, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t dismiss any word he said. Gu Nianzhi suddenly understood.

She thought about the programming language that He Zhichu had mentioned earlier. Although she only had a superficial understanding of it, this superficial understanding included the fundamentals of this intelligent programming language.

He Zhuchi’s hints opened the door to a new world in front of Gu Nianzhi. She stared at the source codes on her computer that she had been analyzing all morning, and suddenly felt that she understood something.

“Nianzhi?” He Zhichu hadn’t heard from Gu Nianzhi for a while. He called out to her with some concern.

Gu Nianzhi was snapped back to reality and exclaimed with joy, “Professor He, you are truly a wonder! I think I have identified the problem! Sorry, but I’m going to start looking for the bug now. When I finally do find the bug, I will invite Professor He for dinner!”

“Really? Don’t humor me.” There was a faint smile on He Zhichu’s calm face. That casual smile was like the sporadic rain trickling down and causing small ripples on the surface of cerulean blue lake water during spring.

Gu Nianzhi nodded profusely. “I never break my promises! Breaking promises makes for a bad person!”

“Oh, you’re too hard on yourself, even I’m intimidated.” He Zhichu teased her before hanging up the phone. Looking at the computer in front of him, He Zhichu contemplated for a while, then opened a program he used infrequently...

...

After hanging up the phone, Gu Nianzhi stared at the computer monitor for half an hour, sitting there motionlessly, like a clay sculpture. Her mind was jumping in all sorts of directions, pondering over how to use a logic programming language such as Prolog, and how to crack this intelligent logic programming language.

The first step in cracking a code is probing. He Zhichu’s words at the beginning of their conversation gave Gu Nianzhi a new idea.

If a frequently used software program had Prolog mixed up with it, what would that look like? She and Zhao Liangze couldn’t find any bugs, but could this be related to Prolog, the artificial intelligence-based programming language!?

After another half an hour, Gu Nianzhi had thought about it thoroughly. She then picked up the mouse, opened her programming notepad, and started encoding software programs. This time, she reformatted her debugging software program to perceive the programming languages ​​as potential bugs as well.

The inspection criteria were that any source code that runs on a logical programming paradigm was a bug. Ordinary programming languages would ​​never use logic-based programming to run source codes. After reformatting, she re-inspected the source code that Zhao Liangze had given her. Gu Nianzhi did not sleep this time. She sat in front of the computer the whole time, attentively watching her program run.

She had to admit that the source codes from the monitoring software that Zhao Liangze had given to her were indeed extremely potent.

Fortunately for her, the computer at Huo Shaoheng’s official residence was even more potent, enabling her to perform such a heavy load of calculations and inspections. Nevertheless, it still took her almost twelve hours to complete the entire inspection.

She had her lunch and dinner in her bedroom. For twelve hours straight, Gu Nianzhi hadn’t stepped foot outside the house. Except to retrieve the lunch and dinner delivered by the servicemen at the door, she hardly looked away from the computer monitor.

At eleven o’clock in the evening, the program finally started ringing a victorious chime to signify that all operations had been accomplished. She had never felt so overjoyed to finally see the gigantic display of the word “Done” on her computer monitor.

Gu Nianzhi let out a long breath of relief.

Clicking on the program’s error-report, she saw a few lines of command in the previously empty error-checking report and immediately broke out into a smile. Her debugging program had been running all night, yet no mistake had been identified. Although nothing had appeared in that error-report, Gu Nianzhi hadn’t been pleased at all.

Now, seeing the incorrect instructions appearing in the error-report, she was so ecstatic that she felt like she was on cloud nine. Gu Nianzhi could hardly contain her excitement as she read the error report. The more she read, the more excited she got.

“Dang! That’s how they did it?!”

“You can actually implement a recursion program based on the Prolog artificial intelligence-based logic programming language within an ordinary programming language!”

“...This is like secretly inserting a sleeper agent within a crowd of fools and covertly issuing commands for these single-minded dimwits to follow!”

Gu Nianzhi felt so elated that she could hardly avert her gaze. It was as if, in the pillage of source codes that could only rigidly obey straightforward instructions, a maverick code had appeared and told them to stay put when “one” appears, and to circle back to “one” when “two” appears.

If neither “one” or “two” appeared, then they would obey the original command. This was practically a dead loop between the commands of “one” and “two”.

The unique aspect of it was its use of artificial intelligence-based logic programming as its basis. It meant that his sort of dead-loop viral programming couldn’t be easily detected by people using this software.

“How impressive! Who’s the genius who came up with this?”

Gu Nianzhi could not wait anymore. She excitedly dialed He Zhichu’s number. “Professor He! I have finally identified the bug! Sure enough, someone has hidden a few lines of Prolog commands within a common programming language! Professor He, you are truly a genius! A true computer expert!”

He Zhichu had just been awakened by Gu Nianzhi’s phone call, but he wasn’t irked. He simply smiled and said, “I feel proud to receive such praise from a genius computer expert herself.”

Gu Nianzhi beamed with joy. “Professor He is too modest. This issue has stumped many people, but you identified the nature of the problem right away. I’m been curious, how did you know that this was the underlying issue? You seem to be very computer savvy yourself!”

He Zhichu’s eyes flickered. He said calmly, “I too have a great burden upon my shoulders. I once sponsored the establishment of a national military laboratory for a country, and I saw them conduct an inspection of this sort.”

“Oh! I see!” Gu Nianzhi knew which country He Zhichu was referring to, and she unconsciously closed her eyes. “It seems that we have a long way to go before catching up...”

“We’re gaining momentum.” He Zhichu sat down leisurely on the bed. “Actually, you said that some people suggested that it was either the computer’s problem or a software issue. The core of the problem has been pointed out. I believe that the person just needs a little more time to discover the key aspect underlying the issue.”

Only artificial intelligence-based programming languages ​​could really drive the hardware to serve the software. Gu Nianzhi suddenly felt accomplished as well. It was just too impressive!