We are currently working on new rules for what content should and shouldn't be allowed on this website, and are looking for feedback! See Esolang:2026 topicality proposal to view and give feedback on the current draft.
Null program
- Not to be confused with NOP, a program that does nothing.
The null program is the unique program of zero length. It is a valid program in many languages; in some of these languages, it is even a quine, in that it produces itself as output. (But if a zero-length program is used as a quine, it would be probably be considered a cheating quine!)
In the language Homespring the message "In Homespring, the null program is not a quine." is printed and the program exited, in case one runs the null program/quine.
In languages where input is appended to the source code, the null program is a self-interpreter.
The null program (submitted as a quine) won IOCCC in 1994 for "Worst abuse of the rules." A new rule was added the next year that a program must be at least one byte in length.