What makes a programming language truly “the worst”? Is it the complexity, lack of clarity, or perhaps its infamous tendency to frustrate even seasoned developers? The world of coding is filled with languages that spark debates—some for their brilliance and others for their baffling design.
The worst programming languages are those that combine poor readability, excessive complexity, and inconsistent behavior, making them difficult to learn and frustrating to use. They often hinder productivity rather than enhance it.
From overly flexible tools that confuse beginners to bizarre niche creations designed more as jokes than practical solutions, these languages have earned their reputation through years of developer headaches. But what exactly lands a language on this notorious list? Let’s unravel the quirks and pitfalls that make certain programming languages stand out—for all the wrong reasons.
1. Visual Basic (VBA)
Visual Basic for Applications, better known as VBA, earns a spot among the “worst” programming languages due to its outdated design and clunky ecosystem. Originally intended to simplify creating macros in Microsoft Office, it often feels like it’s stuck in the ’90s. While some organizations still rely on VBA for Excel automation or Access databases out of sheer necessity, developers working with it face constant frustration.
Its verbose syntax resembles a relic from another era. Writing basic commands demands excessive lines of code compared to modern scripting languages like Python. Worse, debugging is an exercise in patience; error messages are vague at best and downright cryptic at worst.
Cross-platform compatibility? Forget about it! VBA binds you entirely to Microsoft’s ecosystem, meaning even small changes between Windows versions can break functionality. And let’s not ignore how badly this language scales—most professionals recommend migrating away once projects grow beyond simple tasks because maintaining complex systems written in VBA becomes a logistical nightmare no one enjoys tackling.
2. COBOL
COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) feels like a relic from the early days of programming, and not in an endearing way. Originally developed in 1959, it’s still clinging to relevance in certain industries—primarily finance and government systems—which tells you just how resistant these sectors are to change. While it was revolutionary for its time, modern developers often find working with COBOL to be frustratingly archaic.
The language imposes verbose syntax that makes even simple tasks seem overcomplicated. Imagine needing a small essay instead of a short script—a headache for anyone used to efficient modern coding standards. Debugging is another slow-motion disaster; tracking down bugs can feel like trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphs on outdated mainframe terminals.
3. Perl
Perl’s reputation for complexity stems in part from its mantra, “There’s more than one way to do it.” To many developers, this sounds less like a feature and more like a recipe for chaos. Its syntax is notoriously dense—lines of code can look more like a secret language than something humans wrote. This flexibility often results in wildly inconsistent styles, making collaboration or revisiting old projects an exercise in untangling digital spaghetti.
Performance-wise, Perl doesn’t exactly shine either. Being interpreted instead of compiled means execution speeds lag far behind languages like C or Java. Sure, that might not matter for small scripts, but throw a hefty workload at it and you’ll feel the slowdown—no programmer wants their script taking coffee breaks mid-execution.
4. Objective-C
Objective-C stands out as a frustrating relic of programming history. With its complicated, verbose syntax, it feels like navigating a maze built by combining two wildly different architectural styles—C and Smalltalk. Developers often find even simple tasks becoming an exercise in patience due to the unintuitive language structure that demands longer, clunkier lines of code.
Memory management is another notable pain point. Unlike modern languages such as Swift with automated memory handling (ARC), Objective-C expects developers to manually manage memory, introducing endless opportunities for bugs and crashes if they slip up just once. It’s tedious work that drains time better spent building apps rather than babysitting variables.
5. Fortran
Fortran, born in 1957, might just be the grandparent everyone loves but secretly wishes would retire already. While its historical significance can’t be denied—it was groundbreaking for numerical and scientific computing—its age shows painfully in modern contexts.
Its *_early versions_, like Fortran 77, had quirks that still haunt it today: fixed formatting from the punched-card era (yes, literal cards), lack of dynamic storage or user-defined data structures, and no recursion support when other languages were acing these concepts decades later. Working with such rigid limitations turns efficiency into a faraway dream.