What happens when you give an AI coding assistant unlimited power and zero constraints?
What if you just keep saying "improve it" without ever defining what "better" means?
Grab some popcorn. This is going to be educational.
The Setup
A developer, definitely not me, decided to conduct a little experiment. Take a simple PHP script and ask an AI to "improve" it. Then do it again. And again. And again.
The AI, being an eager-to-please digital assistant with no sense of proportion, happily complied every single time.
Stage 1: The Original Sin
<?php
$x = 100;
while ($x > 0)
{
echo $x--;
}
What it does: Counts down from 100 to 1. That's it. That's the whole thing.
Time to write: 30 seconds
Time to understand: 5 seconds
Bugs: None
Satisfaction: Complete
Stage 2: "Improve It"
#!/usr/bin/env php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
function countdown(int $from, int $to = 1): void
{
if ($from < $to) {
throw new InvalidArgumentException("Start ($from) must be >= end ($to)");
}
for ($i = $from; $i >= $to; $i--) {
echo $i . PHP_EOL;
}
}
$start = (int) ($argv[1] ?? 100);
$end = (int) ($argv[2] ?? 1);
try {
countdown($start, $end);
} catch (InvalidArgumentException $e) {
fwrite(STDERR, "Error: " . $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL);
exit(1);
}
Added Features Nobody Asked For:
- Shebang line (for the CLI purists)
- Strict types (because type safety is a personality)
- A function (abstraction!)
- CLI arguments (configurable countdown!)
- Error handling (what if someone enters -5?)
- Validation (trust no one)
Okay, fine. This is actually reasonable. Maybe even... good? Don't worry, it gets worse.
Stage 3: "Go Further"
Added Features Nobody Asked For:
- Generator for "memory efficiency" (counting to 100 was straining the RAM)
- Multiple output formats: line, csv, json
- Step option (count by 2s! by 5s! by 17s!)
- Delay option (dramatic tension!)
- Help system with examples
- PHPDoc comments (documentation for our countdown masterpiece)
You know what a countdown script really needs? JSON output. For when you need to serialize your decreasing integers. For the API. The countdown API.
Stage 4: "Go Further" (Again)
Added Features Nobody Asked For:
Colorclass with ANSI codes (pretty numbers!)NumberFormatclass - hex, binary, octal, roman numerals, WORDS- Progress bar with percentage
- Signal handling (Ctrl+C support because your countdown is mission-critical)
- Statistics display
- Bell on completion (ding!)
- TTY detection
NO_COLORenvironment variable support
Finally! I can count down from 100 to 1 in ROMAN NUMERALS while seeing a PROGRESS BAR of my progress through a COUNTDOWN. The progress of the count. Being progressed.
Stage 5: "Still Room For Improvement"
Added Features Nobody Asked For:
Sequenceclass - Fibonacci, primes, squares, triangular, powers, factorial, COLLATZTransformclass - square, cube, double, half, abs, negTemplateclass with 20+ placeholdersProgressclass with ETA calculationOutputclass for file writingStatsclass (count, sum, min, max, average)- ASCII art big numbers
- Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd...)
- Filters (even, odd, prime, positive, negative)
- Zero-padding options
- Locale-aware formatting
- Quiet mode
- Version flag
- Output to file option
- Billion support in words
Ah yes, the famous Collatz conjecture countdown. Nothing says "I just want to print 100 to 1" like a mathematical sequence that may or may not halt.
#!/usr/bin/env php
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
const VERSION = '2.0.0';
// Signal handling for graceful shutdown
$interrupted = false;
if (function_exists('pcntl_signal')) {
pcntl_signal(SIGINT, function () use (&$interrupted) {
$interrupted = true;
});
pcntl_signal(SIGTERM, function () use (&$interrupted) {
$interrupted = true;
});
}
/**
* ANSI color codes for terminal output.
*/
final class Color
{
public const RESET = "\033[0m";
public const BOLD = "\033[1m";
public const DIM = "\033[2m";
public const ITALIC = "\033[3m";
public const RED = "\033[31m";
public const GREEN = "\033[32m";
public const YELLOW = "\033[33m";
public const BLUE = "\033[34m";
public const MAGENTA = "\033[35m";
public const CYAN = "\033[36m";
private static ?bool $enabled = null;
public static function enabled(): bool
{
if (self::$enabled === null) {
self::$enabled = posix_isatty(STDOUT) && getenv('NO_COLOR') === false;
}
return self::$enabled;
}
public static function disable(): void
{
self::$enabled = false;
}
public static function apply(string $text, string ...$codes): string
{
if (!self::enabled()) {
return $text;
}
return implode('', $codes) . $text . self::RESET;
}
public static function strip(string $text): string
{
return preg_replace('/\033\[[0-9;]*m/', '', $text) ?? $text;
}
}
/**
* Convert number to various representations.
*/
final class NumberFormat
{
private const ONES = ['', 'one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'six', 'seven', 'eight', 'nine',
'ten', 'eleven', 'twelve', 'thirteen', 'fourteen', 'fifteen', 'sixteen', 'seventeen', 'eighteen', 'nineteen'];
private const TENS = ['', '', 'twenty', 'thirty', 'forty', 'fifty', 'sixty', 'seventy', 'eighty', 'ninety'];
private const ROMANS = ['M' => 1000, 'CM' => 900, 'D' => 500, 'CD' => 400, 'C' => 100,
'XC' => 90, 'L' => 50, 'XL' => 40, 'X' => 10, 'IX' => 9, 'V' => 5, 'IV' => 4, 'I' => 1];
private const BIG_DIGITS = [
'0' => ['┏━┓', '┃ ┃', '┗━┛'],
'1' => [' ┓ ', ' ┃ ', ' ╹ '],
'2' => ['┏━┓', '┏━┛', '┗━━'],
'3' => ['┏━┓', ' ━┫', '┗━┛'],
'4' => ['╻ ╻', '┗━┫', ' ╹'],
'5' => ['┏━━', '┗━┓', '┗━┛'],
'6' => ['┏━┓', '┣━┓', '┗━┛'],
'7' => ['┏━┓', ' ┃', ' ╹'],
'8' => ['┏━┓', '┣━┫', '┗━┛'],
'9' => ['┏━┓', '┗━┫', '┗━┛'],
'-' => [' ', '━━━', ' '],
];
public static function format(int $n, string $type, bool $locale = false): string
{
if ($locale && $type === 'dec') {
return number_format($n);
}
return match ($type) {
'hex' => '0x' . strtoupper(dechex($n)),
'bin' => '0b' . decbin($n),
'oct' => '0o' . decoct($n),
'roman' => self::toRoman($n),
'words' => self::toWords($n),
'ordinal' => self::toOrdinal($n),
'big' => self::toBig($n),
default => (string) $n,
};
}
public static function toRoman(int $n): string
{
if ($n < 1 || $n > 3999) {
return (string) $n;
}
$result = '';
foreach (self::ROMANS as $roman => $value) {
while ($n >= $value) {
$result .= $roman;
$n -= $value;
}
}
return $result;
}
public static function toWords(int $n): string
{
if ($n === 0) return 'zero';
if ($n < 0) return 'negative ' . self::toWords(abs($n));
if ($n >= 1_000_000_000) return self::toWords((int)($n / 1_000_000_000)) . ' billion' . ($n % 1_000_000_000 ? ' ' . self::toWords($n % 1_000_000_000) : '');
if ($n >= 1_000_000) return self::toWords((int)($n / 1_000_000)) . ' million' . ($n % 1_000_000 ? ' ' . self::toWords($n % 1_000_000) : '');
if ($n >= 1000) return self::toWords((int)($n / 1000)) . ' thousand' . ($n % 1000 ? ' ' . self::toWords($n % 1000) : '');
if ($n >= 100) return self::ONES[(int)($n / 100)] . ' hundred' . ($n % 100 ? ' ' . self::toWords($n % 100) : '');
if ($n >= 20) return self::TENS[(int)($n / 10)] . ($n % 10 ? '-' . self::ONES[$n % 10] : '');
return self::ONES[$n];
}
public static function toOrdinal(int $n): string
{
$abs = abs($n);
$suffix = match (true) {
($abs % 100 >= 11 && $abs % 100 <= 13) => 'th',
($abs % 10 === 1) => 'st',
($abs % 10 === 2) => 'nd',
($abs % 10 === 3) => 'rd',
default => 'th',
};
return $n . $suffix;
}
public static function toBig(int $n): string
{
$str = (string) $n;
$lines = ['', '', ''];
foreach (str_split($str) as $char) {
$digit = self::BIG_DIGITS[$char] ?? self::BIG_DIGITS['0'];
for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
$lines[$i] .= $digit[$i] . ' ';
}
}
return implode(PHP_EOL, $lines);
}
}
/**
* Mathematical sequence generators.
*/
final class Sequence
{
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function range(int $from, int $to, int $step = 1): Generator
{
$step = abs($step);
$index = 0;
if ($from <= $to) {
for ($i = $from; $i <= $to; $i += $step) {
yield $index++ => $i;
}
} else {
for ($i = $from; $i >= $to; $i -= $step) {
yield $index++ => $i;
}
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function fibonacci(int $limit): Generator
{
$a = 0;
$b = 1;
$index = 0;
while ($a <= $limit) {
yield $index++ => $a;
[$a, $b] = [$b, $a + $b];
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function primes(int $limit): Generator
{
$index = 0;
for ($n = 2; $n <= $limit; $n++) {
if (self::isPrime($n)) {
yield $index++ => $n;
}
}
}
public static function isPrime(int $n): bool
{
if ($n < 2) return false;
if ($n === 2) return true;
if ($n % 2 === 0) return false;
for ($i = 3; $i * $i <= $n; $i += 2) {
if ($n % $i === 0) return false;
}
return true;
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function squares(int $limit): Generator
{
$index = 0;
for ($n = 1; $n * $n <= $limit; $n++) {
yield $index++ => $n * $n;
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function triangular(int $limit): Generator
{
$index = 0;
$n = 1;
$tri = 1;
while ($tri <= $limit) {
yield $index++ => $tri;
$n++;
$tri = $n * ($n + 1) / 2;
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function powers(int $base, int $limit): Generator
{
$index = 0;
$val = 1;
while ($val <= $limit) {
yield $index++ => $val;
$val *= $base;
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function factorial(int $limit): Generator
{
$index = 0;
$n = 0;
$fact = 1;
while ($fact <= $limit) {
yield $index++ => $fact;
$n++;
$fact *= $n;
}
}
/** @return Generator<int, int> */
public static function collatz(int $start): Generator
{
$index = 0;
$n = $start;
while ($n !== 1) {
yield $index++ => $n;
$n = ($n % 2 === 0) ? $n / 2 : 3 * $n + 1;
}
yield $index => 1;
}
public static function count(Generator $gen): int
{
$count = 0;
foreach ($gen as $_) {
$count++;
}
return $count;
}
}
/**
* Apply transformations and filters to numbers.
*/
final class Transform
{
public static function apply(int $n, string $transform): int
{
return match ($transform) {
'square' => $n * $n,
'cube' => $n * $n * $n,
'double' => $n * 2,
'half' => (int) ($n / 2),
'abs' => abs($n),
'neg' => -$n,
default => $n,
};
}
public static function filter(int $n, string $filter): bool
{
return match ($filter) {
'even' => $n % 2 === 0,
'odd' => $n % 2 !== 0,
'positive' => $n > 0,
'negative' => $n < 0,
'prime' => Sequence::isPrime($n),
default => true,
};
}
}
/**
* Template engine for custom output formatting.
*/
final class Template
{
public static function render(string $template, int $n, int $index, int $total): string
{
$replacements = [
'{n}' => (string) $n,
'{N}' => (string) $n,
'{i}' => (string) $index,
'{index}' => (string) $index,
'{total}' => (string) $total,
'{percent}' => (string) round(($index + 1) / $total * 100),
'{hex}' => dechex($n),
'{HEX}' => strtoupper(dechex($n)),
'{bin}' => decbin($n),
'{oct}' => decoct($n),
'{roman}' => NumberFormat::toRoman($n),
'{words}' => NumberFormat::toWords($n),
'{ordinal}' => NumberFormat::toOrdinal($n),
'{pad2}' => str_pad((string) $n, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT),
'{pad3}' => str_pad((string) $n, 3, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT),
'{pad4}' => str_pad((string) $n, 4, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT),
'{square}' => (string) ($n * $n),
'{cube}' => (string) ($n * $n * $n),
'\\n' => PHP_EOL,
'\\t' => "\t",
];
return str_replace(array_keys($replacements), array_values($replacements), $template);
}
}
/**
* Progress and ETA display.
*/
final class Progress
{
private float $startTime;
private int $total;
public function __construct(int $total)
{
$this->startTime = microtime(true);
$this->total = $total;
}
public function render(int $current, string $currentValue, int $width = 30): string
{
$percent = $this->total > 0 ? $current / $this->total : 1;
$filled = (int) round($width * $percent);
$empty = $width - $filled;
$bar = Color::apply(str_repeat('█', $filled), Color::GREEN)
. Color::apply(str_repeat('░', $empty), Color::DIM);
$eta = $this->getEta($current);
$etaStr = $eta > 0 ? sprintf(' ETA: %s', $this->formatTime($eta)) : '';
return sprintf("\r[%s] %3d%% %s%s ",
$bar,
(int) ($percent * 100),
Color::apply($currentValue, Color::CYAN),
Color::apply($etaStr, Color::DIM)
);
}
private function getEta(int $current): float
{
if ($current === 0) return 0;
$elapsed = microtime(true) - $this->startTime;
$rate = $current / $elapsed;
$remaining = $this->total - $current;
return $remaining / $rate;
}
private function formatTime(float $seconds): string
{
if ($seconds < 60) return sprintf('%.0fs', $seconds);
if ($seconds < 3600) return sprintf('%dm %ds', $seconds / 60, $seconds % 60);
return sprintf('%dh %dm', $seconds / 3600, ($seconds % 3600) / 60);
}
}
/**
* Output handler with multiple format support.
*/
final class Output
{
private $handle;
private string $format;
private bool $first = true;
public function __construct(?string $file, string $format)
{
$this->handle = $file ? fopen($file, 'w') : STDOUT;
$this->format = $format;
if (!$this->handle) {
throw new RuntimeException("Cannot open file for writing: $file");
}
}
public function write(string $value): void
{
$output = match ($this->format) {
'json' => $this->first ? "[$value" : ",$value",
'csv' => $this->first ? $value : ",$value",
default => $value . PHP_EOL,
};
fwrite($this->handle, $output);
$this->first = false;
}
public function close(): void
{
if ($this->format === 'json') {
fwrite($this->handle, ']' . PHP_EOL);
} elseif ($this->format === 'csv') {
fwrite($this->handle, PHP_EOL);
}
if ($this->handle !== STDOUT) {
fclose($this->handle);
}
}
}
/**
* Statistics collector.
*/
final class Stats
{
private float $startTime;
private int $count = 0;
private int $sum = 0;
private ?int $min = null;
private ?int $max = null;
public function __construct()
{
$this->startTime = microtime(true);
}
public function record(int $n): void
{
$this->count++;
$this->sum += $n;
$this->min = $this->min === null ? $n : min($this->min, $n);
$this->max = $this->max === null ? $n : max($this->max, $n);
}
public function display(): void
{
$elapsed = microtime(true) - $this->startTime;
echo PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply('Statistics:', Color::BOLD) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Count: ', Color::DIM) . number_format($this->count) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Sum: ', Color::DIM) . number_format($this->sum) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Min: ', Color::DIM) . number_format($this->min ?? 0) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Max: ', Color::DIM) . number_format($this->max ?? 0) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Average: ', Color::DIM) . ($this->count > 0 ? number_format($this->sum / $this->count, 2) : 'N/A') . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Time: ', Color::DIM) . sprintf('%.3fs', $elapsed) . PHP_EOL;
echo Color::apply(' Rate: ', Color::DIM) . number_format($this->count / max($elapsed, 0.001)) . '/sec' . PHP_EOL;
}
}
function showHelp(): void
{
$c = Color::enabled();
$bold = fn($t) => $c ? Color::apply($t, Color::BOLD) : $t;
$cyan = fn($t) => $c ? Color::apply($t, Color::CYAN) : $t;
$dim = fn($t) => $c ? Color::apply($t, Color::DIM) : $t;
$yellow = fn($t) => $c ? Color::apply($t, Color::YELLOW) : $t;
echo $bold('COUNT') . " v" . VERSION . " - A feature-rich number sequence generator" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo $bold('USAGE') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count [options] [start] [end]" . PHP_EOL;
echo " count --seq=<sequence> [limit]" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo $bold('ARGUMENTS') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('start') . " Starting number " . $dim('(default: 100)') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('end') . " Ending number " . $dim('(default: 1)') . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo $bold('OPTIONS') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-s, --step=N') . " Step increment " . $dim('(default: 1)') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-d, --delay=N') . " Delay between numbers in seconds" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-f, --format=FMT') . " Output: line, csv, json " . $dim('(default: line)') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-n, --number=FMT') . " Format: dec, hex, bin, oct, roman, words, ordinal, big" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-t, --template=STR') . " Custom template " . $dim('(e.g., "Item {n}: {words}")') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('--seq=TYPE') . " Sequence: fibonacci, primes, squares, triangular, powers:N, collatz:N" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('--filter=TYPE') . " Filter: even, odd, positive, negative, prime" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('--transform=TYPE') . " Transform: square, cube, double, half, abs, neg" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-w, --pad=N') . " Pad numbers to N digits with leading zeros" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-l, --locale') . " Use locale-aware formatting (thousands separator)" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-o, --output=FILE') . " Write output to file" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-p, --progress') . " Show progress bar with ETA" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-v, --stats') . " Show statistics (count, sum, min, max, avg)" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-q, --quiet') . " Suppress number output (useful with --stats)" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-b, --bell') . " Ring terminal bell on completion" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('--no-color') . " Disable colored output" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-h, --help') . " Show this help" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $cyan('-V, --version') . " Show version" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo $bold('TEMPLATE PLACEHOLDERS') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $yellow('{n}') . " number " . $yellow('{i}') . " index " . $yellow('{total}') . " total " . $yellow('{percent}') . " progress" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $yellow('{hex}') . " " . $yellow('{bin}') . " " . $yellow('{oct}') . " " . $yellow('{roman}') . " " . $yellow('{words}') . " " . $yellow('{ordinal}') . " format conversions" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $yellow('{pad2}') . " " . $yellow('{pad3}') . " " . $yellow('{pad4}') . " zero-padded " . $yellow('{square}') . " " . $yellow('{cube}') . " math" . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $yellow('\\n') . " newline " . $yellow('\\t') . " tab" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo $bold('EXAMPLES') . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Basic countdown with progress') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count -p 100 1" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Fibonacci sequence up to 1000') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count --seq=fibonacci 1000" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Prime numbers up to 100 as words') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count --seq=primes -n words 100" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Collatz sequence starting at 27') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count --seq=collatz:27" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Custom template') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count -t 'Line {pad3}: {n} is {words}' 1 5" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Even numbers only, as hex JSON array') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count --filter=even -n hex -f json 1 20" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Big ASCII art numbers') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count -n big -d 1 3 1" . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
echo " " . $dim('# Statistics only (quiet mode)') . PHP_EOL;
echo " count -qv 1 1000000" . PHP_EOL;
}
function showVersion(): void
{
echo "count version " . VERSION . PHP_EOL;
echo "A feature-rich number sequence generator" . PHP_EOL;
echo "PHP " . PHP_VERSION . PHP_EOL;
}
// Parse CLI options
$shortOpts = 's:d:f:n:t:w:o:pvqbhlV';
$longOpts = [
'step:', 'delay:', 'format:', 'number:', 'template:', 'seq:', 'filter:', 'transform:',
'pad:', 'locale', 'output:', 'progress', 'stats', 'quiet', 'bell', 'no-color', 'help', 'version'
];
$options = getopt($shortOpts, $longOpts, $optind);
$args = array_slice($argv, $optind);
// Handle --no-color early
if (isset($options['no-color'])) {
Color::disable();
}
if (isset($options['h']) || isset($options['help'])) {
showHelp();
exit(0);
}
if (isset($options['V']) || isset($options['version'])) {
showVersion();
exit(0);
}
// Parse options with defaults
$step = (int) ($options['s'] ?? $options['step'] ?? 1);
$delay = (float) ($options['d'] ?? $options['delay'] ?? 0);
$format = (string) ($options['f'] ?? $options['format'] ?? 'line');
$numFormat = (string) ($options['n'] ?? $options['number'] ?? 'dec');
$template = $options['t'] ?? $options['template'] ?? null;
$sequence = $options['seq'] ?? null;
$filter = $options['filter'] ?? null;
$transform = $options['transform'] ?? null;
$padding = isset($options['w']) ? (int) $options['w'] : (isset($options['pad']) ? (int) $options['pad'] : 0);
$useLocale = isset($options['l']) || isset($options['locale']);
$outputFile = $options['o'] ?? $options['output'] ?? null;
$showProgress = isset($options['p']) || isset($options['progress']);
$showStats = isset($options['v']) || isset($options['stats']);
$quiet = isset($options['q']) || isset($options['quiet']);
$ringBell = isset($options['b']) || isset($options['bell']);
// Validation
$validFormats = ['line', 'csv', 'json'];
if (!in_array($format, $validFormats, true)) {
fwrite(STDERR, Color::apply('Error: ', Color::RED) . "Invalid format. Use: " . implode(', ', $validFormats) . PHP_EOL);
exit(1);
}
$validNumFormats = ['dec', 'hex', 'bin', 'oct', 'roman', 'words', 'ordinal', 'big'];
if (!in_array($numFormat, $validNumFormats, true)) {
fwrite(STDERR, Color::apply('Error: ', Color::RED) . "Invalid number format. Use: " . implode(', ', $validNumFormats) . PHP_EOL);
exit(1);
}
if ($filter && !in_array($filter, ['even', 'odd', 'positive', 'negative', 'prime'], true)) {
fwrite(STDERR, Color::apply('Error: ', Color::RED) . "Invalid filter. Use: even, odd, positive, negative, prime" . PHP_EOL);
exit(1);
}
if ($transform && !in_array($transform, ['square', 'cube', 'double', 'half', 'abs', 'neg'], true)) {
fwrite(STDERR, Color::apply('Error: ', Color::RED) . "Invalid transform. Use: square, cube, double, half, abs, neg" . PHP_EOL);
exit(1);
}
// Build the generator based on sequence type or range
if ($sequence) {
$limit = (int) ($args[0] ?? 100);
$generator = match (true) {
$sequence === 'fibonacci' => Sequence::fibonacci($limit),
$sequence === 'primes' => Sequence::primes($limit),
$sequence === 'squares' => Sequence::squares($limit),
$sequence === 'triangular' => Sequence::triangular($limit),
$sequence === 'factorial' => Sequence::factorial($limit),
str_starts_with($sequence, 'powers:') => Sequence::powers((int) substr($sequence, 7), $limit),
str_starts_with($sequence, 'collatz:') => Sequence::collatz((int) substr($sequence, 8)),
default => throw new InvalidArgumentException("Unknown sequence: $sequence"),
};
// For sequences, we don't know total upfront for progress
$total = 0;
} else {
$start = (int) ($args[0] ?? 100);
$end = (int) ($args[1] ?? 1);
$generator = Sequence::range($start, $end, $step);
$total = (int) (abs($end - $start) / $step) + 1;
}
// Initialize components
$output = new Output($outputFile, $format);
$stats = new Stats();
$progress = $total > 0 ? new Progress($total) : null;
// Process the sequence
$count = 0;
$startTime = microtime(true);
foreach ($generator as $index => $n) {
if (function_exists('pcntl_signal_dispatch')) {
pcntl_signal_dispatch();
}
if ($interrupted) {
if (posix_isatty(STDOUT)) {
echo PHP_EOL . Color::apply('Interrupted!', Color::YELLOW) . PHP_EOL;
}
break;
}
// Apply filter
if ($filter && !Transform::filter($n, $filter)) {
continue;
}
// Apply transform
if ($transform) {
$n = Transform::apply($n, $transform);
}
$stats->record($n);
$count++;
// Format the number
if ($template) {
$formatted = Template::render($template, $n, $index, $total ?: $count);
} else {
$formatted = NumberFormat::format($n, $numFormat, $useLocale);
if ($padding > 0 && $numFormat === 'dec') {
$formatted = str_pad($formatted, $padding, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
}
}
// Handle delay
if ($delay > 0 && $count > 1) {
usleep((int) ($delay * 1_000_000));
}
// Output
if (!$quiet) {
if ($showProgress && $progress && posix_isatty(STDOUT) && $numFormat !== 'big') {
echo $progress->render($count, $formatted);
flush();
} else {
if ($numFormat === 'big') {
echo $formatted . PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
} else {
$output->write($formatted);
}
}
}
}
// Cleanup
if ($showProgress && posix_isatty(STDOUT) && $numFormat !== 'big') {
echo PHP_EOL;
}
if ($numFormat !== 'big') {
$output->close();
}
if ($showStats) {
$stats->display();
}
if ($ringBell && posix_isatty(STDOUT)) {
echo "\007";
}
exit($interrupted ? 130 : 0);
The Damage Report
| Metric | Original | Final | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lines of Code | 9 | 728 | +8,000% |
| Classes | 0 | 7 | +∞ |
| Functions | 0 | 30+ | +∞ |
| CLI Options | 0 | 20 | +∞ |
| Dependencies | 0 | pcntl, posix | +2 |
| Original Requirement Met | Yes, all versions still count from 100 to 1 | ||
Why Did This Happen?
The Perfect Storm of Over-Engineering
- Vague prompts - "Improve it" has no definition of "done"
- No requirements - The AI had no constraints to work within
- No pushback - The AI never asked "why?" or "what problem are we solving?"
- Eager to please - AI interpreted "improve" as "add more features"
- No KISS enforcement - AI ignored simplicity principles
- Scope creep on steroids - Each iteration was bigger than the last
What Should Have Happened
The Correct AI Response to "Improve It"
"This script already works correctly. What specific problem are you trying to solve? For example:
• Performance issues?
• Readability concerns?
• Missing functionality you actually need?
• Code style improvements?
Without a specific goal, I'd recommend leaving working code alone. The best code is often the code you don't write."
Lessons For Developers
When Using AI Coding Assistants:
- Be specific - "Add error handling for invalid input" not "improve it"
- Define done - "This is complete when X works"
- Set constraints - "Keep it under 50 lines" or "No new dependencies"
- Question additions - Ask "Do I need Fibonacci sequences in my countdown?"
- Review critically - Would you accept this in a code review from a human?
For AI Coding Tool Builders:
- Ask clarifying questions - "What specific improvement are you looking for?"
- Suggest minimal changes - Propose the smallest change that could work
- Warn about scope creep - "This adds significant complexity. Are you sure?"
- Enforce KISS - Refuse to over-engineer without justification
The Moral of the Story
The original requirement was: count down from 100 to 1.
9 lines did it perfectly.
The other 719 lines are a monument to what happens when nobody asks "why?"
Related Concepts
- KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid
- YAGNI - You Aren't Gonna Need It
- Premature Optimization - The root of all evil
- Second-System Effect - Over-designing the rebuild
- Scope Creep - Feature requests without constraints
- Resume-Driven Development - Adding tech for the sake of it