# 26 programming languages in 25 days, Part 2: Reflections on language design

DevFeed: [26 programming languages in 25 days, Part 2: Reflections on language design](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/26-programming-languages-in-25-days-part-2-reflections-on-language-design-35233.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://matt.might.net/articles/26-languages-part2/>)

Published: 2022-12-31T19:36:56Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

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

Topics: [Programming language](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming-language.md>), [Functional programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/functional-programming.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Data structures](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data-structures.md>), [Advent of Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/advent-of-code.md>)

Tags: [advent-of-code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/advent-of-code.md>), [algorithms](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/algorithms.md>), [algorithms-and-data-structures](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/algorithms-and-data-structures.md>), [functional](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/functional.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [programming-languages](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming-languages.md>)

## AI overview

The author reflects on completing Advent of Code 2022 with 26 programming languages in 25 days. They found that functional techniques, algorithms, and data structures generally mattered more than language performance, while language design choices such as syntax, typing, and purity affected readability, debugging, and development speed in different puzzle contexts.

## Source excerpt

I recently wrote about completing Advent of Code 2022 using a different programming language (or two) every day for 25 days. That note focused on the strategy, tactics and logistics involved in using 26 languages in 25 days without saying much about the languages or the experience itself. Using so many languages in such a short span provided insight into tradeoffs in language design. Here are my two high-level reflections from the experience: Good program design in the first part of each puzzle - especially more functional techniques and abstractions - tended to make the second part easier. So, in general, functional languages seemed to have the advantage in the puzzles. Using better algorithms and data structures was more important than having a "faster" programming language. There was never a time where rewriting in another language felt like the right way to get better performance. Read on for more specific reflections on language design. Click here to read the rest of the article