Obfuscate (was: Where do you keep your source?)

[David Gibbs <dgibbs@xxxxxxx>]

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> What is 'obfuscate' and how do you do that?

Obfuscate means taking the source, that comprises your code, written in
java, and altering the code representation to a form that is not readily
understandable by biological entities that comprise the human genome after
an attempt at reverse engineering.

As an example, I tried to obfuscate that statement above ... what it means,
if you didn't figure it out, is: Obfuscate means taking your java source and
changing it so you can't readily decompile the object into source and steal
the logic.

The obfuscation tools I've seen do some of the following things...

. Rename variables from meaningful terms to something short and meaningless
(like: CustomerOrderBalance to a).
. Compress and alter logic so that formulas are not readily understandable.
Short circuit evaluation is heavily employed here.

I just found a nice write-up on obfuscation ... check out
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U285539A.

david