# 26 programming languages in 25 days, Part 1: Strategy, tactics and logistics

DevFeed: [26 programming languages in 25 days, Part 1: Strategy, tactics and logistics](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/26-programming-languages-in-25-days-part-1-strategy-tactics-and-logistics-35232.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://matt.might.net/articles/26-languages-part1/>)

Published: 2022-12-27T23:28:42Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Matt Might](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/matt-might.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Programming language](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming-language.md>), [Advent of Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/advent-of-code.md>), [Learning](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/learning.md>)

Tags: [advent-of-code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/advent-of-code.md>), [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [languages](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/languages.md>), [learning](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/learning.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [strategy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/strategy.md>)

## AI overview

The author describes solving Advent of Code's 25 daily puzzles with a different programming language each day, using 26 languages in total. The article explains the strategy, language ranking, reserves, and lessons from learning unfamiliar languages during the contest.

## Source excerpt

Since making a sudden leap from computer science to academic medicine about seven years ago, I haven't programmed as much. I love what I do in medicine and biology, and I love helping patients. But, I have missed programming - and programming languages. Then I came across the Advent of Code on Mastodon - a series of daily two-part puzzles for programmers that runs for 25 days. On a whim, I solved the Day 1 puzzle using awk. I solved Day 2 in TeX (which underpins LaTeX) to reboot an old skill. After that, I wondered if I could solve each of the 25 puzzles using a different programming language every day. So, I did. In the end: on 12 days, I had to learn a new programming language from scratch, and then use it to solve that day's puzzle; on 4 days, I used languages where I had very little experience; and on the other 9 days, I used languages I had known well at some point. In the end, I used 26 languages, because I combined two on Day 21 (sed and bc), turning the experience into a rapid-fire "breadth-first search" of programming language space. Learning how to learn a new language became the key meta-learning. If you'd like to try the breadth-first search yourself, I have distilled advice on the strategy, tactics and logistics involved in using a new programming language every day for 25 days. You will end up with an appreciation of the relative strengths and intended domains of different languages. Click here to read the rest of the article