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Magic numbers become particularly confusing when the same number is used for different purposes in one section of code. It is easier to alter the value of the number, as it is not duplicated. Changing the value of a magic number is error-prone, because the same value is often used several times in different places within a program. [6]
Such signatures are also known as magic numbers or magic bytes. Many file formats are not intended to be read as text. If such a file is accidentally viewed as a text file, its contents will be unintelligible. However, some file signatures can be recognizable when interpreted as text.
On the other hand, a valid magic number does not guarantee that the file is not corrupt or is of a correct type. So-called shebang lines in script files are a special case of magic numbers. Here, the magic number is human-readable text that identifies a specific command interpreter and options to be passed to the command interpreter.
For example, when testing a program that takes a user's personal details and verifies their credit card number, a developer may decide to add a magic string shortcut whereby entering the unlikely input of "***" as a credit card number would cause the program to automatically proceed as if the card were valid, without spending time verifying it.
6 Non-magic numbers. 2 comments. 7 Constants in program source and magic numbers. 7 comments. 8 Magic numbers in protocols. 1 comment. 9 Notability.
In the context of computer programming, magic is an informal term for abstraction; it is used to describe code that handles complex tasks while hiding that complexity to present a simple interface. The term is somewhat tongue-in-cheek , and often carries bad connotations, implying that the true behavior of the code is not immediately apparent.
As a running example, we consider a 10×10 magic square, where we have divided the square into four quarters. The quarter A contains a magic square of numbers from 1 to 25, B a magic square of numbers from 26 to 50, C a magic square of numbers from 51 to 75, and D a magic square of numbers from 76 to 100.
However, there are infinitely many rational triangular numbers, rational generalized pentagonal numbers and rational tetrahedral numbers which are also magic constants of rational order. The term magic constant or magic sum is similarly applied to other "magic" figures such as magic stars and magic cubes. Number shapes on a triangular grid ...