International Programmers' Day 2026

International Programmers’ Day celebrates the positive changes that programmers make to improve our everyday lives. It is usually held on January 7, but is also popularly celebrated on September 13, or on September 12 in leap years. 

What Do People Do?

Programmers are greeted with positive comments like “Happy Programmer’s Day” in some work environments on International Programmers' Day. The observance is also mentioned among programming communities in online forums and social media, including on Facebook or Twitter.

Public Life

International Programmers’ Day is an observance and not a public holiday.

Background

International Programmers’ Day was launched in 2007 to honor programmers. The day is celebrated in many countries and is officially observed in Russia. In 2009 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree for the “Day of the Programmer” to be celebrated on the 256th day of the year, which is usually September 13, or on September 12 in leap years.

Symbols

Many people observe International Programmers’ Day on the 256th day of the year because “256” (28) is the number of distinct values that can be represented with an 8-bit byte, and 256 is the highest power of 2 that is less than 365, the number of days in a year.

While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary. If you find an error, please let us know.