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.
Thousands of programmers around the world are remembered on International Programmers' Day.
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.
International Programmers' Day Observances
Year
Weekday
Date
Name
Holiday Type
2018
Sun
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2018
Thu
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2019
Mon
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2019
Fri
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2020
Tue
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2020
Sat
Sep 12
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2021
Thu
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2021
Mon
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2022
Fri
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2022
Tue
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2023
Sat
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2023
Wed
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2024
Sun
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2024
Thu
Sep 12
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2025
Tue
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2025
Sat
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2026
Wed
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2026
Sun
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2027
Thu
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2027
Mon
Sep 13
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2028
Fri
Jan 7
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
2028
Tue
Sep 12
International Programmers' Day
Worldwide observance
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.