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Ask HN: What is the most niche programming language that is still written?

9 pointsby wkingover 2 years ago
I would love to hear about the programming languages that I have never heard about. I don't mean Assembly or anything that is low-level, but mainstream. Even better if you have an example!

9 comments

082349872349872over 2 years ago
I would not be surprised if TAL is still used for <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hpe.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;servers&#x2F;nonstop.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hpe.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;servers&#x2F;nonstop.html</a> boxen.<p>Similarly, <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.unisys.com&#x2F;client-education&#x2F;clearpath-forward-libra-servers&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.unisys.com&#x2F;client-education&#x2F;clearpath-forward-li...</a> probably still uses its bespoke languages ( <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Burroughs_Large_Systems#ALGOL" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Burroughs_Large_Systems#ALGOL</a> ) in places.
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082349872349872over 2 years ago
Do you have any interest in academic languages?<p>After a half a century or so without, BCPL recently got floats (for a flight simulator): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cl.cam.ac.uk&#x2F;~mr10&#x2F;BCPL.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cl.cam.ac.uk&#x2F;~mr10&#x2F;BCPL.html</a><p>I prefer the author&#x27;s MCPL: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cl.cam.ac.uk&#x2F;~mr10&#x2F;MCPL.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cl.cam.ac.uk&#x2F;~mr10&#x2F;MCPL.html</a> but have no idea if anyone is currently using it.<p>[Edit: looks like Martin backported pattern matching from MCPL into BCPL ca. Oct 2022, so that&#x27;s recent signs of life for both strains!]
fhaldridge7over 2 years ago
Check &quot;advent of code&quot; solutions. Some of the people invent their own programming languages to solve problems.
tothrowawayover 2 years ago
JScript is Microsoft&#x27;s JavaScript that can run server side. I guess it was a thing in the late 90s and early 00s. The &quot;Click Commerce&quot; web CMS&#x2F;framework was largely written in it. They pivoted from commerce to medical research, and the software is still being used by dozens of institutions.
_448over 2 years ago
Pike (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pike.lysator.liu.se" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pike.lysator.liu.se</a>)
rurbanover 2 years ago
Rexx at IBM, but I guess there are several such internal langs used in similar obscure companies.
simonblackover 2 years ago
Z80 assembly.
2snakesover 2 years ago
Brainfuck lol
amalgamated_incover 2 years ago
K
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