Programming languages are as evident as it gets. They provide instructions to computers and other electronic devices, making modern life more accessible. We use many programming languages every day, but some are decades old and still very popular. Here are the top 10 oldest programming languages still being used in 2022.
In This Article You Will Know About Oldest Programming Languages in 2022.
Tips to make code better – Before moving ahead, let’s know a bit about Five Programming Languages To Boost Your Career.
Table of Contents
1. Fortran
This programming language was invented in the hands of John Backus, a group of programmers from IBM. It was developed in the year 1957. Fortran is an alternative programming language similar to assembly is used in continuous use for over six decades.
Performance – Fortran was designed from scratch for high-performance computational applications in engineering and science. Compilers with battle-tested and mature libraries let you write code that’s close to the metal quickly.
Typed strongly and statically – Fortran is both statically and strongly typed, which allows the compiler to detect many programming errors in the beginning for you. This lets the compiler create effective binary code.
Easy to master and utilize – Fortran is a comparatively small-sized language that is simple to master and use. It is a language that can express most math and arithmetic functions in vast arrays is as easy as writing them out as equations on the whiteboard.
Versatile – Fortran lets you write code in a way that is most appropriate to your needs, such as imperative, procedural array-oriented, object-oriented or functional.
Naturally parallel – Fortran is an incredibly parallel programming language that uses an intuitive array-like syntax to exchange data between CPUs. It’s possible to run nearly the same program using a single CPU in a shared-memory multicore device or on a distributed-memory HPC or cloud-based system. Events, teams, co-arrays and collective subroutines permit you to create various parallel programming patterns that are best suited to the task at hand.
2. SQL
SQL, developed at IBM in 1974 by Raymond F. Boyce and Donald D. Chamberlin, was the first commercial programming language. We have now reached the point where SQL language has been accepted as the standard for relational database communication.
- It may include SQL Procedural Language statement and features that allow for the use of control-flow logic in conventional static and dynamic SQL statements.
- Easy to implement as they employ an easy high-level, easily written language.
- SQL functions provide more security than similar external functions.
- Support input parameters.
- SQL Scalar functions return a scalar number.
- SQL table functions return results from tables.
- Use a simple yet powerful conditional and error-handling model.
- You can quickly access SQLSTATE and SQLCODE values by using unique variables.
- They are stored in the database and are immediately restored and backup in the backup and restore process.
- This function can be used in situations where expressions within the SQL statement are accepted.
- Support for nested function calls to various SQL functions or functions implemented in different languages.
- Support Recursion (when used in dynamic SQL is employed in the compiled functions).
3. C
C is another programming language that is still be being used in 2022. This is due to its simplicity in developing a program. Dennis Ritchie, Bell Labs’ founder of C, developed it in the 1970s. It has been used widely by many research-oriented academic, government, and industrial organizations. C quickly rose to be one of the most popular programs.
Simple and Efficient – Using C language is extremely easy to grasp and is easy to learn. The language is understandable and allows programmers to design or develop an entirely new program. C is often utilized as an introductory language for introducing the basics of programming to school students, thanks to this characteristic.
Fast – It’s a known fact that statically typed languages are more efficient than dynamic versions. C is a statically typed programming language that gives its users an advantage over other dynamic languages. In addition, in contrast to Java and Python, which use interpreters, C is a compiler-based program. This allows for the processing and compilation of codes quicker.
Another reason that makes C quick is the availability of the necessary features. Modern programming languages have various features that enhance capabilities but decrease effectiveness and speeds. Since C is a language with a few essential features, processing the features is reduced and results in a faster speed.
Portability – Another benefit of the C language is its portability. Simply put, C programs are machine-independent, meaning that you can use the portion of a program written in C on a variety of machines without any or a few specific changes to the machine. This allows you to run the same code on different systems based on the requirements.
Extensibility – It is possible to easily (and quickly) modify the capabilities of a C program easily and quickly. That means that even if the program is already written and you want to add additional features by making minor changes. It allows you to add new functionalities, features and functions on top of an established C program.
Function-Rich Libraries – C includes a vast collection of libraries, with several functions built-in that make a life for programming a person simple. Anyone can learn to program using the built-in functions. It is also possible to create user-defined functions and include them in C libraries. Access to many operations and functions enables the programmer to create an extensive array of programs and apps.
Mid-Level Programming Language – While C was initially designed for low-level programming, it can also support the functions and features of high-level programming, making it a mid-level program. In addition, as a mid-level programming language, C offers the most efficient of both. As an example, C allows direct manipulation of hardware, something that high-level programming languages cannot provide.
Pointers – By using pointers in C, you can communicate with memory directly. As the name implies, pointers point to a particular place in memory and directly interact. Utilizing C pointers, you can work with arrays, memory functions, structures, and arrays.
4. BASIC
BASIC, the Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (or BASIC), is the one programming language that has made the computer world a better place. John G. Kemeny, Thomas E. Kurtz and Thomas E. Kurtz created this language at Dartmouth College in 1964. BASIC is a straightforward language to learn.
Imperative – Similar to the earlier versions in BASIC, Small Basic is essential and doesn’t teach beginners concepts such as scopes, objects, types, etc.
Size – The Small Basic language consists of only 14 keywords.
Ease of Use – The language is based on operators in the text (AND OR) and not symbol operators such as { } or & and |
Easy to Share – You can easily share programs using the “Publish” and “Import” buttons. They allow you to share your applications to and from Small Basic’s shared server.
Type System – There’s no such thing as a constant. It is possible to create strings and numeric constants that you can assign to variables. An operation carried out by these variables can be understood according to the contents.
Variables – Each variable is global and is always set up. They can be used before they are assigned.
Events – You can make an additional sub-routine that you can assign the event.
Libraries – The libraries include simple “Objects” that group operations properties, events and operations. Creating new libraries is possible with other .Net Languages and added to the Small Basic runtime.
Graduate to Visual Basic – Clicking on the “Graduate” button, you can transfer your program into Visual Basic and continue to master programming and develop the capabilities of professional developers!
Color – Every type of code has its color and is built directly in the IDE of the language.
5. Lisp
Lisp was developed in 1958 and is still widely used today. John McCarthy, one of the founders and first to use this language in artificial intelligence, created it. This language is still used in many industries.
LISP has a Highly Symbol Oriented Data Structure – The most fundamental data structures are lists and atoms. Lists are objects made of other lists or atoms that are the fundamental individual data type. Lists are used in LISP are also referred to as ass-expressions or’ symbolic expressions.’ The distinctive characteristic of LISP is that functions, programs, and data are all represented as lists. This allows LISP programs to work with other programs like data. This results in the excellent characteristic that LISP programs can alter themselves and even write their LISP programs!
LISP is an Interactive Language – AI researchers from MIT in the 1950s are the very first researchers to recognize the necessity of the creation of an interoperable programming platform. LISP is accessible as an interpreter for minicomputers as well as mainframes. In addition, compact versions of LISP are available on microcomputers in compiler and interpreter formats.
LISP offers the ability to allocate storage space automatically – Because LISP software is constantly changing the collection of expanding and shrinking lists, storage allocation is highly complicated. But, the latest LISP systems offer automated storage allocation using ‘garbage collection’ that allows you to recover memory that the programmer no longer requires. This means that the programmers are free of the responsibility of estimating the size of the data structures required by procedural languages.
LISP is an Ideal Meta-Language – Meta is a Greek word meaning “about,” so the term meta-language refers to a language to talk about languages. The language being talked about could be a natural language, a different computer language, and LISP itself. The meta-language feature of LISP is apparent because a variety of languages like Prolog were created in LISP, or other languages for knowledge engineering have been developed in LISP.
6. Pascal
Pascal was created to promote good programming practices that use structured programming and data structuring. Niklaus Wirth introduced Pascal in 1970. It is a blessing to anyone who wants to learn excellent programming skills. Pascal programming language is a high-level programming language that supports different typing disciplines like robust, safe and static. Pascal programming language is a multipurpose or general-purpose programming language that supports different programming styles like functional, imperative and object-oriented. It supports both structured and procedural programming. Pascal programming language follows all object-oriented programming concepts like class, inheritance, abstraction, polymorphism and encapsulation, etc.
- Pascal programming language can support different kinds of typing like safe, solid and static.
- Programmers can run the Pascal programming language on several platforms such as Windows, Linux, Unix, macOS, etc.
- Pascal programming language can be described as a general-purpose (or multipurpose) programming language that can be used to develop various programs and applications.
- The programs written in the Pascal programming language are simple to comprehend, and Pascal can create more efficient and reliable programming.
- Pascal is a structured language that uses control structures such as if-else, repeat-until, statements, etc.
- It includes diverse data structures in the records files, arrays, pointers, etc.
- Pascal is a simple programming language and offers an approach to machine programming. It allows features to be integrated into the compiler.
- Pascal utilizes minimum confusion to describe the information and the structure in which it processes with a few variations and gives more minor elements and definitions.
- Pascal gives the exact dimensions used by operands and operators to carry out the operations. It also provides the means to process and execute efficient code.
7. Smalltalk
Alan Kay, Xerox PARC’s chief developer of Smalltalk, created it in 1972. This object-oriented programming language was designed primarily for constructionist learning. Smalltalk, despite the many advanced object-oriented languages available, is still the most desired program of all time. Smalltalk programming language adheres to all the principles of object-oriented programmings, such as class inheritance, abstraction polymorphism, encapsulation and polymorphism, and so on. Smalltalk programming language has a reflective programming language for computers, and it uses an image-based persistence. Smalltalk is a general-purpose programming language, which means it can be employed to develop various types of programs and applications.
- Smalltalk programming language is a fully object-oriented programming language, and it follows all the concepts of object-oriented programming approach like class, inheritance, abstraction, polymorphism and encapsulation, etc.
- Smalltalk programming language uses dynamic and robust typing disciplines.
- Smalltalk programming language is a multipurpose or general-purpose programming language that can be used in developing different types of applications and programs.
- Smalltalk programming language is a cross-platform programming language that can be used in different operating systems like Windows, Linux, Unix, macOS, etc.
- The Smalltalk programming language also pioneered modern IDE.
- A Smalltalk programming language provides the feature of live programming and advanced debugging.
8. Ada
Ada, a structured, statically-typed, imperative and object-oriented high-level programming language, is still being used in 2022. Jean Ichbiah, a French programmer and his team at CII-Honeywell-Bull under contract to The United States Department of Defense, developed this programming language in the 1980s.
Cost savings for development – For most large long-lived systems, the main work is not during the initial coding phase but in the testing phase and quality assurance, upgrade, porting to different platforms, or similar “back end” activities. Ada was explicitly designed to tackle these issues and is more effective as another language. Its numerous built-in checks enable the linker or compiler to spot problems that in a C language could only be detected in runtime debugging, whereas they’re much costlier to discover.
Language maturity and its implementation – Ada is a well-established and low-risk COTS technology with low risk. It was first developed in the 1980s (Ada 1983) and then upgraded during the late 1990s (Ada 95) in the mid-2000s (Ada 2005) as well as in the latter part of the 2000s (Ada 2012) and the late the 2010s (Ada 2022) with close attention to each stage to the practical aspects such as the impact of new features for language on the efficiency of runtime.
Status as an international standard – Ada is a language that the Ada dialect has maintained is used by a specific technical working group within ISO (International Organisation of Standardization). Its ISO standardization process guarantees no vendor bias, thorough review and stability of the language, and allows periodic upgrades and revisions. A revised and up-compatible Version of the Ada standard is anticipated in 2022. It will include a variety of improvements inspired by users’ experiences using Ada 95 and Ada 2005 and 2012.
Compatible with different languages – It is not common for software to be created in only one programming language, particularly in systems with large amounts of memory. In most cases, there is a need for low-level programs developed in C and assembly GUI components that could be developed with C++ and Java and a numerics library that could be created in Fortran. Ada is the only one with the standard features to interface to another language.
Practical use in the field – Ada is always a popular option in applications where reliability (versus the likes of speed to market) is a primary need. In the past, this was most apparent in the aerospace and defense industry, with millions and many lines of code being in the operational systems. Ada is still enjoying an impressive presence in this field. She is also utilized commercially in numerous fields such as shipboard systems, avionics, Nuclear reactor controls, subway and train systems, and communication.
9. MATLAB
MATLAB was developed in the 1980s and has many applications, including interactive matrix calculators, matrix manipulations and plotting of functions and values, implementation of algorithms and creation of user interfaces. This indicates that MATLAB is still one of the most popular programs.
MATLAB is a high-level language – MATLAB is a language that supports Object orientation-based programming. It also supports various programming concepts like control flow assertions (IF-ELSE FOR, WHILE). MATLAB also supports structures such as in C programming and functional programming (writing functions that contain standard code and then call them). Also, it supports input and Output statements such as dis() or input().
Interactive graphs – MATLAB has inbuilt graphics that can enhance the user experience. You can visualize the information is available in the form of graphs and figures. It also facilitates processing images and displays these in 2D and 3D formats. We can manipulate and visualize the data in all three dimensions (1D 2D, 1D and 3D). The functions can be plotted and customized according to our requirements, such as changing bullet points line colors and even displaying or not displaying the grid.
A vast collection of mathematical capabilities – MATLAB has a massive built-in library of functions required for the mathematical analysis of any data. It includes standard math functions such as sqrt. Factorial etc. It also has functions to conduct statistical analyses, such as median mode, mode, std (to discover the standard deviation), and many others. MATLAB also includes functions for signal processing such as filtering, butter(Butterworth filter design) audio read, Conv the xcorr function, fft, fftshift and more. It also allows image processing and the most common functions needed to process images within MATLAB are rgb2gray and rgb2hsv, adaptthresh, etc.
Processing and access to data – MATLAB allows accessing data from other sources such as images (.jpg, PNG), audio files (.mp), and real-time information from JDBC and ODBC. It is easy to access data from other sources by using inbuilt MATLAB functions such as audio read to read audio files and imread to reading images from external sources.
Interactive environments – MATLAB offers an interactive environment through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and various types of tools such as signal analyzers and tuners. MATLAB also includes tools for debugging as well as the development of software. Importing and exporting files is simple within MATLAB using the GUI. We can look at the workspace information as we move forward by creating our program and alter it to suit our specifications.
10. COBOL
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) was created in 1959 by Conference on Data System Languages. COBOL was created to alleviate concerns about the rising cost and complexity. This programming language is used extensively in governments and companies’ finance, business, and administration systems.
Standardization and simplicity – COBOL is a simple-to-learn standard language written and run on various computers. It has a broad syntax vocabulary and has an uncluttered style of coding.
Business-oriented capabilities – COBOL’s sophisticated file handling capabilities let it handle large quantities of data. COBOL is still handling over 70% of worldwide business transactions. COBOL is suitable for everything from primary batch reporting to more complicated transactions.
Universality – COBOL has been adapted to the six years of technological advancement and is compatible with various operating systems and gadgets. The language comes with debugging and testing software for nearly all computers. New COBOL products, compilers, and development tools are released every year.
Structure and Scalability – The logical control structures available in COBOL allow it to be easy to modify, read and troubleshoot. COBOL is also robust, scalable and compatible across platforms.
Conclusion
We have talked about some of the top oldest languages that are all highly sought-after; big companies are always searching for developers who have these skills. These languages are sure to enhance your career, should you choose to focus on them.
If you find anything incorrect in the above-discussed topic and have further questions, please comment below.
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