Sparked from a conversation I had with a friend and fellow programmer some odd hours ago, I decided it would be fun to try to make a program that would run in more than one language. Initially, I thought of Brainf*ck and C(++), but my friend suggested I add Whitespace to the mix too. As it turned out, I managed to throw in Python as well.

After some kind people in #esoteric@irc.freenode.net (I joined originally because it was my first foray into the madness that is Whitespace) told me that this is what is called a polyglot, they helped me shave the last fat off and this is the result. A 384 byte “Hello World!\n” that works in Brainf*ck, Whitespace, Python and C++. Not the worst thing I’ve spent a sleepless night on.

As for acknowledgements, I admit that the bf version was one I had lying around, and I don’t know if it was my own or someone else’s. I did the ws version myself because I couldn’t find a working version anywhere. I do owe thanks to coppro and immibis from #esoteric, they were most helpful in the final stages of the process.

UPDATE: reddit users mallardtheduck, isionous and youreameme have suggested further enhancements, which have resulted in shaving off a further 28  bytes, so here is an updated version weighing in at 356 bytes. Many thanks, reddit!