Code Golf: Print the entire “12 Days of Christmas” song in the fewest lines of code

Answer 1

I can't beat the Lisp version, but it's still fun.

The Delphi version:

procedure TheTwelfDaysOfChristmas(const AVerse: TStrings);
const 
  cPresentList : array[1..12] of string = (
    'a partridge in a pear tree',
    'two turtle doves, and ',
    'three french hens, ',
    'four calling birds, ',
    'five gold rings, ',
    'six geese a-laying, ',
    'seven swans a-swimming, ',
    'eigth maids a-milking, ',
    'nine ladies dancing, ',
    'ten lords a-leaping, ',
    'eleven pipers piping, ',
    'twelve drummers drumming, '
  );
  cTime : array[1..12] of string = (
    'first',
    'second',
    'third',
    'fourth',
    'fifth',
    'sixth',
    'seventh',
    'eighth',
    'nineth',
    'tenth',
    'eleventh',
    'twelfth'
  );
var
  present : string;
  i       : Integer;

begin
  present := '';
  for i := 1 to 12 do begin
    present := cPresentList[i] + present;
    AVerse.Add(Format('On the %s day of Christmas my true love gave me %s.',
      [cTime[i], present]));
  end;
end;

By the way, for all of you, Happy holidays and great programming in 2009.

Answer 2

VB.Net - 530 Chars (no spaces), 634 (spaces)

Module ChristmasSong
    Sub Main()
        Dim i&, f$ : Dim d$() = {"first", "second", "third", "fourth", "fifth", "sixth", "seventh", "eighth", "ninth", "tenth", "eleventh", "twelfth"}, g$() = {"a partridge in a pear tree.", "two turtle doves, and ", "three french hens, ", "four calling birds, ", "five gold rings, ", "six geese a-laying, ", "seven swans a-swimming, ", "eigth maids a-milking, ", "nine ladies dancing, ", "ten lords a-leaping, ", "eleven pipers piping, ", "twelve drummers drumming, "}
        For i = 0 To 11 : f = g(i) & f : Console.WriteLine("On the {0} day of Christmas, my true love gave to me {1}", d(i), f) : Next
    End Sub
End Module

Answer 3

Python (71+467 including whitespaces)

import sys
sys.path += ["TDOC.zip"]
import TDOC
TDOC.print_verse()

Where TDOC.zip (467 bytes) contains TDOC.py:

def print_verse(presents="""\
twelve drummers drumming,
eleven pipers piping,
ten lords a-leaping,
nine ladies dancing,
eigth maids a-milking,
seven swans a-swimming,
six geese a-laying,
five gold rings,
four calling birds,
three french hens,
two turtle doves, and
a partridge in a pear tree.""".split("\n")):
    if presents: 
        print_verse(presents[1:])

        number = presents[0].split(" ", 1)[0]
        print("On the %s day of Christmas my true love gave to me %s" % (
            dict(a="first", two="second", three="third", five="fifth").get(number, number+"th"),
            " ".join(presents)))

Answer 4

In C++ you'd

std::cout << boost::12_days_of_christmas;

Answer 5

C#, 421 Characters

var t="";for(int i=0;i++<12;)Console.Write("On the {0}{1} day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: {2}\n",i,i<2?"st":i<3?"nd":i<4?"rd":"th",t="|a partridge in a pear tree.|two turtle doves, and |three french hens,|four calling birds,|five gold rings|six geese a-lay@seven swans a-swimm@eight maids a-milk@nine ladies danc@ten lords a-leap@eleven pipers pip@twelve drummers drumm@".Replace("@","ing,|").Split('|')[i]+t);

Spaced out version:

var t="";

for(int i = 0; i++ < 12;)
    Console.Write("On the {0}{1} day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: {2}\n",
            i,
            i < 2 ? "st" : i < 3 ? "nd" : i < 4 ? "rd" : "th",
            t="|a partridge in a pear tree.
               |two turtle doves, and 
               |three french hens,
               |four calling birds,
               |five gold rings
               |six geese a-lay
               @seven swans a-swimm
               @eight maids a-milk
               @nine ladies danc
               @ten lords a-leap
               @eleven pipers pip
               @twelve drummers drumm@"
            .Replace("@","ing,|")
            .Split('|')[i]+t);

Answer 6

Here's an erlang version (~586 chars):

-module (xmas).
-export ([xmas/0]).
xmas() ->
    W = ["twelve drummers drumming, ",
    "eleven pipers piping, ",
    "ten lords a-leaping, ",
    "nine ladies dancing, ",
    "eight maids a-milking, ",
    "seven swans a-swimming, ",
    "six geese a-laying, ",
    "five gold rings, ",
    "four calling birds, ",
    "three french hens, ",
    "two turtle doves, and ",
    "a partridge in a pear tree."],
    io:format(lists:foldl(
    fun(X,Acc) -> Acc ++ X ++ "~n" end, "",
    ["On the " ++ day_str(Q) ++ 
    " day of Christmas, my true love gave me " ++ 
    lists:foldl(
        fun(X,Acc)-> Acc++X end,
        "", lists:nthtail(12-Q,W)) || 
        Q <- lists:seq(1,12)]),[]).
day_str(Q) ->
    case Q of
        1 -> "1st";
        2 -> "2nd";
        3 -> "3rd";
        N -> erlang:integer_to_list(N,10) ++ "th"
    end.