# MarkovGrams

Experiments into markov chains, n-grams, and text generation. This repository is the result of the markov chain blog post mini-series on my blog.

 - [Part 1 - n-grams](https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/blog/article.php?article=posts/236-Markov-Chain-Part-1-N-Grams.html)
 - [Part 2 - unweighted markov chains](https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/blog/article.php?article=posts%2F238-Markov-Chains-Part-2-Unweighted-Chains.html)

## Building
Building this project should be easy - I can provide prebuilt binaries upon request though if asked (see [my website](https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/) for contact information).

### Windows
Open the solution in Visual Studio / MonoDevelop and hit build.

### Linux and everyone else
As above with MonoDevelop, or simply use the command `xbuild` whilst inside the root of the repository.


## Using
Detailed usage help can be seen by simply running the tool without any arguments:

```bash
./MarkovGrams.exe
```

Linux users might need to explicitly run it with `mono`:

```bash
mono ./MarkovGrams.exe
```

## Wordlists
The `wordlists/` directory contains a few interesting wordlists I used when writing and testing this program.

Filename 		| Contents		| Comments
----------------|--------------|------------------
`colours.txt` | List of colours	| Built with a sneaky bit of Javascript in the developer tools of [this webpage](http://www.colorhexa.com/color-names) from [colorhexa](http://www.colorhexa.com/), which turns out to be a really useful website about colours.
`Science Words.txt` | List of cool sciencey-type words | Compiled from scratch by [Starbeamrainbowlabs](https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/) - that's me!
`Cross-Code-Items.txt`	 | List of items in _[Cross-Code](http://cross-code.com/)_ | A list of all items in the game _CrossCode_. Scraped from [here](https://crosscode.gamepedia.com/Items) by a clever bit of bash in `wordlists/download.sh`. I obviously don't own any of these names.
`Final-Fantasy-15-Items.txt`	| List of items in _[Final Fantasy 15](https://finalfantasyxv.square-enix-games.com/)_ | Another list of in-game items - this time from _Final Fantasy XV_. Scraped from [this wiki page](http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Final_Fantasy_XV_items) and related pages. The even cleverer bit of bash that does this is also in `wordlists/download.sh`. Again, I don't own any of these :-)
`No-Mans-Sky-Items.txt`	| List of items in [No Man's Sky](https://www.nomanssky.com/)	| Yep, you guessed it. Don't own this. Bash available in `wordlists/download.sh` - I had a bit of trouble with this one, and had to use an awkward hack or two.

## Credits
 - The code was written by [Starbeamrainbowlabs](https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/) - that's me too!
 - I found the [Markov Chain Text Generation](http://nullprogram.com/blog/2012/09/05/) post by [Chris Wellons](http://nullprogram.com/) rather useful when writing this.
 - Wordlists