# I'm running the ICFP programming contest (2026) > Source: > Published: 2026-07-25 05:29:51+00:00 ## I'm running a programming contest It started an hour ago Jul 24, 2026 I’ve spent the last few months working with my friends [Frank](https://www.frankchiarulli.com/), [Henry](https://github.com/hcnelson99), and [Eliot](https://github.com/eliothedeman) to design the 29th annual [ICFP Programming Contest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICFP_Programming_Contest). The contest began an hour ago (I meant to mention this sooner, sorry!) and runs for 3 days. If you’d like, you can [sign up at icfpcontest2026.com](https://icfpcontest2026.com/). Of course, we spent a *lot* of time thinking about how to design a fun programming contest in the age of AI agents. It would not be satisfying if the winning strategy for the contest was to run an unmonitored agent in a loop for 72 hours. a simple program in the littleman language So for the contest we’ve designed a new language we call “littleman.” Littleman programs are two dimensional and place a heavy emphasis on spatial reasoning - your little men must physically *walk over* instructions to execute them, and they exchange data with “pipes” that you draw in your program’s source code. We’ve written a [textbook about the littleman programming language](https://icfpcontest2026.com/textbook). It’s open to everyone, so you can check it out even if you’re not registered for the contest. Enjoy!