Programmers' Day
Encyclopedia
Programmers' Day is an international professional holiday
, recognized in many technology
companies and programming firms, that is celebrated on the 256th (hexadecimal
100th, or the 28th) day of each year (September 13 during common year
s and on September 12 in leap year
s). It is also officially recognized in Russia
and observed in several other countries, including China
, Croatia
, Guatemala
, France
, India
, New Zealand
, Poland
, Slovenia
, the United Kingdom
, and the United States
.
The number 256
(28) was chosen because it is the number of distinct values that can be represented with an eight-bit byte
, a value well-known to programmer
s. 256 is the highest power of two that is less than 365, the number of days in a common year.
company. As early as 2002, he tried to gather signatures for a petition to the government of Russia
to recognize the day as the official programmers' day.
On July 24, 2009, the Ministry of Mass Communications of Russia issued a draft of an executive order on a new professional holiday, Programmers' Day.
On September 11, 2009, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev
signed the decree.
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
, recognized in many technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
companies and programming firms, that is celebrated on the 256th (hexadecimal
Hexadecimal
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen...
100th, or the 28th) day of each year (September 13 during common year
Common year
A common year is a common type of calendar year. It has exactly 365 days and so is not a leap year. More generally, it is a calendar year without intercalation....
s and on September 12 in leap year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
s). It is also officially recognized in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and observed in several other countries, including China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The number 256
256 (number)
256 is the natural number following 255 and preceding 257.-In mathematics:256 is a composite number, with the factorization 256 = 28, which makes it a power of two....
(28) was chosen because it is the number of distinct values that can be represented with an eight-bit byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
, a value well-known to programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
s. 256 is the highest power of two that is less than 365, the number of days in a common year.
Official recognition
This particular day was proposed by Valentin Balt, an employee of Parallel Technologies web designWeb design
Web design is the process of planning and creating a website. Text, images, digital media and interactive elements are used by web designers to produce the page seen on the web browser...
company. As early as 2002, he tried to gather signatures for a petition to the government of Russia
Government of Russia
The Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister , the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers...
to recognize the day as the official programmers' day.
On July 24, 2009, the Ministry of Mass Communications of Russia issued a draft of an executive order on a new professional holiday, Programmers' Day.
On September 11, 2009, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
signed the decree.
See also
- World Information Society DayWorld Information Society DayWorld Information Society Day was proclaimed to be on 17 May by a United Nations General Assembly resolution, following the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis....
- System Administrator Appreciation DaySystem Administrator Appreciation DaySystem Administrator Appreciation Day, also known as Sysadmin Day, SysAdminDay, SAD or SAAD, was created by system administrator Ted Kekatos...
- Public holidays in RussiaPublic holidays in RussiaThe following is the list of official public holidays recognized by the Government of Russia. On these days, government offices, embassies and some shops, are closed. If the date of observance falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday will be a day off in lieu of the holiday.-New Year...