shortprogram

Shortprogram is a term used in computer programming to describe a compact, purpose-specific piece of software written with the aim of achieving a task using as few characters, bytes, or tokens as possible. The phrase is informal and variably defined; it is not a formal programming language or standard. In practice, short programs are central to code golf communities where participants compete to produce correct solutions with the smallest possible size under predefined constraints.

Short programs are most common in golfing languages designed for brevity, such as Pyth, Jelly, 05AB1E, and GolfScript, though they also appear in mainstream languages when programmers employ concise idioms and single-line expressions. Techniques include exploiting language features, implicit input/output, and clever data representations. The goal is correctness and minimal size rather than readability.

Metrics for measuring short programs typically use bytes or characters, and sometimes tokens. Trade-offs often include reduced readability, maintainability, and portability. Performance is not always primary, and some challenges impose extra constraints like execution time or memory limits.

The concept echoes ideas from Kolmogorov complexity, describing the shortest description that generates a given result. In practice, the term is used mainly in online forums, coding contests, and discussions about programming style. There is no universal standard for what constitutes a shortprogram.

See also: code golf, golfing language, obfuscated code, code size.