Chuan Hao
2026
Scaling Laws for Code: Every Programming Language Matters
Jian Yang | Shuyue Guo | Linzheng Chai | Wei Zhang | Aishan Liu | Chuan Hao | Zhoujun Li | Xin Zhao | Xianglong Liu | Weifeng Lv | Bryan Dai
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2026
Jian Yang | Shuyue Guo | Linzheng Chai | Wei Zhang | Aishan Liu | Chuan Hao | Zhoujun Li | Xin Zhao | Xianglong Liu | Weifeng Lv | Bryan Dai
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2026
Large language models (LLMs) are powerful but costly to train, with scaling laws predicting performance from model size, data, and compute. However, different programming languages (PLs) have varying impacts during pre-training that significantly affect base model performance, leading to inaccurate performance prediction. Existing works focus on language-agnostic settings, neglecting the inherently multilingual nature of modern software development. Therefore, it is first necessary to investigate the scaling laws of different PLs, and then consider their mutual influences to arrive at the final multilingual scaling law. In this paper, we present the first systematic exploration of scaling laws for multilingual code pre-training, conducting over 1000+ experiments (Equivalent to 336,000+ H800 hours) across multiple PLs, model sizes (0.2B to 14B parameters), and dataset sizes (1T tokens). We establish scaling laws for code LLMs across multiple programming languages, showing that interpreted languages benefit more from increased scale than compiled ones. Multilingual pre-training provides synergistic benefits, especially between syntactically similar languages, with parallel pairing (concatenating code with translations) significantly enhancing cross-lingual abilities. We propose a proportion-dependent multilingual scaling law that optimally allocates training tokens by prioritizing high-utility languages (e.g., Python), balancing high-synergy pairs (e.g., JavaScript-TypeScript), and reducing allocation to fast-saturating languages (e.g., Rust), achieving superior performance across all languages compared to uniform distribution.
LoopCoder: Scaling Code Intelligence via Looped Language Models
Jian Yang | Wei Zhang | Shuyue Guo | Yizhi LI | Linzheng Chai | Zhengmao Ye | Shukai Liu | Yuyang Song | Jiajun Wu | Che Liu | Tianyu Zheng | Siwei Wu | Leo L | Xudong Ma | Chuan Hao | Ran Tao | Yan Xing | Jianzhou Wang | Mingjie Tang | Aishan Liu | Zhoujun Li | Xianglong Liu | Weifeng Lv | Bryan Dai
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2026
Jian Yang | Wei Zhang | Shuyue Guo | Yizhi LI | Linzheng Chai | Zhengmao Ye | Shukai Liu | Yuyang Song | Jiajun Wu | Che Liu | Tianyu Zheng | Siwei Wu | Leo L | Xudong Ma | Chuan Hao | Ran Tao | Yan Xing | Jianzhou Wang | Mingjie Tang | Aishan Liu | Zhoujun Li | Xianglong Liu | Weifeng Lv | Bryan Dai
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2026
While large language models (LLMs) have mastered syntax-level code generation, complex algorithmic reasoning remains a challenge, typically addressed by scaling model depth and parameter count. Universal Transformers (UT) offer a compelling alternative by introducing a recurrent inductive bias that aligns with the recursive nature of programming logic. However, training looped architectures at scale has historically been hindered by severe instability and optimization difficulties associated with backpropagation through time (BPTT). We present LoopCoder (40B-A80B) pre-trained on 12T+ code and general tokens, along with LoopCoder-Thinking and LoopCoder-Instruct variants—the first large-scale looped transformer for code, achieving comparable performance to standard dense architectures with more parameters. Unlike prior approaches that restrict recurrence to small-scale tasks, we implement a comprehensive looped training protocol spanning both pre-training and post-training phases. We initiate the model via dense-to-loop transformation, folding a pre-trained dense checkpoint to initialize a recurrent block, followed by rigorous looped pre-training and specialized post-training for instruction following and reasoning. Our results establish a robust recipe for scaling coding intelligence via recurrent computation, proving that dense checkpoints serve as an optimal foundation for evolving into dynamic, looped reasoners.