Technologies are generally described herein for performing a pulse programming operation on memory cells. The memory cells may be programmed according to a relative ranking of a property of the memory cells. The relative ranking may correspond to a particular word to be written to the memory cells. The memory cells may be pulsed until the property corresponds to a particular relative ranking. Some examples of properties of the memory cells include, but are not limited to, threshold voltages, resistance values, or current carrying capabilities.