APL, 16 14 characters
Returns 0
for a leap year, 1
for a non-leap year.
{≥/⌽×4 25 4⊤⍵}
The same solution in J:
4 25 4>:/@|.@:*@#:]
Explanation
Dyadic ⊤
(encode) represents its right argument in the base specified by its left argument. I use base 4 25 4
in this solution. This represents the year y as a polynomial
y mod 400 = 100 a + 4 b + c where b < 100 and c < 4.
Let propositions α, β, and γ represent if a, b, and c are non-zero: Proposition γ is false if y is dividable by 4, β ∧ γ is false if y is dividable by 100 and α ∧ β ∧ γ is false if y is dividable by 400.
A truth table (*
representing “don't care”) were proposition Δ represents if y is a leap-year obtains:
α β γ | Δ
0 0 0 | 1
1 0 0 | 0
* 1 0 | 1
* * 1 | 0
The following statement expresses Δ in α, β, and γ:
Δ = ¬((α → β) → γ)).
Due to the structure of this statement, one can express ¬Δ as the reduction ≥/⌽α β γ
where ≥ implements ←. This leads to the answer I am explaining right now.