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Program that creates larger versions of itself (quine-variant)

You are to write a program that will output source code that is

Larger than the original program (character wise)
Will print another program larger than itself when run (i.e. the new program is also a valid answer to this challenge) indefinitely

This is code-golf, so shortest answer wins.

Answer*

# GolfScript, 9 chars

 {.'.~'}.~

This code outputs:

 {.'.~'}{.'.~'}.~

which outputs:

 {.'.~'}{.'.~'}{.'.~'}.~

which outputs:

 {.'.~'}{.'.~'}{.'.~'}{.'.~'}.~

and so on.

I believe this is the shortest answer in a "real" Turing-complete programming language so far.

### Explanation:

Basically, the original code above is a "quine-layer": it outputs a normal quine followed by itself.

In GolfScript, any code block literal (e.g. `{foo}`), if left undisturbed on the stack, is a quine. Thus, on its own, `{.'.~'}` simply outputs itself, just like any other code block would.

The `.~` at the end of the code takes the last code block on the stack, duplicates it, and executes the copy. When executed, the code `.'.~'` inside the code block duplicates the topmost item on the stack (i.e. the copy of itself) and appends the string `.~`.

At the end of the program, the GolfScript interpreter stringifies and outputs everything on the stack, which, in this case, consists of one more `{.'.~'}` block than in the input, plus the string `.~`.

### Bonus:

Adding a `]` before the first `.` (to collect all the code blocks on the stack into an array before they're duplicated) makes it grow exponentially:

 {].'.~'}.~

outputs:

 {].'.~'}{].'.~'}.~

which outputs:

 {].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}.~

which outputs:

 {].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}{].'.~'}.~

and so on.

If this is an answer to a challenge…

…Be sure to follow the challenge specification. However, please refrain from exploiting obvious loopholes. Answers abusing any of the standard loopholes are considered invalid. If you think a specification is unclear or underspecified, comment on the question instead.
…Try to optimize your score. For instance, answers to code-golf challenges should attempt to be as short as possible. You can always include a readable version of the code in addition to the competitive one. Explanations of your answer make it more interesting to read and are very much encouraged.
…Include a short header which indicates the language(s) of your code and its score, as defined by the challenge.

More generally…

…Please make sure to answer the question and provide sufficient detail.
…Avoid asking for help, clarification or responding to other answers (use comments instead).

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232

\$\begingroup\$ {].'.~'}.~( ┻━┻ \$\endgroup\$

nitro2k01
– nitro2k01

2014年02月23日 18:34:23 +00:00
Commented Feb 23, 2014 at 18:34
2

\$\begingroup\$ @nitro2k01 my first thoughts exactly :D \$\endgroup\$

Songo
– Songo

2014年02月27日 12:50:00 +00:00
Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 12:50
1

\$\begingroup\$ Sorry I don't think I get the joke about the table can someone please explain? \$\endgroup\$

Maxwell Zhao
– Maxwell Zhao

2016年03月27日 03:22:08 +00:00
Commented Mar 27, 2016 at 3:22
1

\$\begingroup\$ Is "real" in quotes because HQ9+ is not real or because GolfScript is not real, or both? \$\endgroup\$

None
– None

2016年09月13日 08:37:39 +00:00
Commented Sep 13, 2016 at 8:37
1

\$\begingroup\$ @thepiercingarrow the source code resemble this \$\endgroup\$

Rod
– Rod

2016年11月16日 14:47:14 +00:00
Commented Nov 16, 2016 at 14:47

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