Detailed Description of the Palindrome Generator
This program generates palindromes, that is text that reads the same forwards and backwards. It was inspired by the classic palindrome, A MAN A PLAN A CANAL PANAMA
It is written in Java Script as a client-side program. That way you can use it on vacation without needing an internet connection. The power of your own computer creates a generator that is fast, powerful, local, and dedicated. It is also possible to abort a search if something goes wrong or it takes too long. If you want you can download a local copy of the program for use on your own machine. It is optimized for use with Google Chrome.
The default wordlist that we provide is based on the Oxford 5000 dictionary, to which some palindrome friendly names (such as PANAMA) have been added. If you want to add more words to the list, you can do so using any text editor such as Notepad. The words do not have to be in alphabetical order. Download our list here then add or delete any words that you want.
The palindrome is composed last word first, then penultimate word. The other words are automatically generated. The key concept of this generator is that of overhang. When a word such as PANAMA is written backwards, one gets the small words A MAN A, followed by the "overhanging" letter P. So the last word generator can select words of any desired length (using MAX and MIN) and overhang lengths between -1 and 4. The longer the overhang the more last words can be found, but the fewer penultimate words will then fit. A negative overhang means that a word can be formed by adding a letter after the reversed text. NOTE:- Set the MIN length to 4 or less when using negative overhang.
The overhanging letters are automatically displayed on the screen. Having selected a last word, one can search for a penultimate word. It is then a simple matter to scroll through penultimate words, until something that looks good has been generated. The computer frees the user to perform the creative work, which lies in selecting a palindrome that makes some kind of sense or otherwise looks good.
PRO TIP:- If you open the developer tool window on your browser, you can see a full list of the search results without having to scroll through. This is also handy if you want to print the list. On Google Chrome, click the three vertical dots on the top right of the screen. Then click More Tools -> Developer Tools.
Have fun!