Top 5 World’s Most Difficult Programming Languages

Every developer is familiar with many programming languages. Many coding languages are high-level and their syntax is human readable. Whereas, there are also low-level languages which are difficult for a human to read but understandable. But did you encounter a difficult programming language that is neither readable nor understandable?

There are a few coding languages called ‘esoteric programming languages’ or esolang. These languages are designed to test the boundaries of computer programming language design. These type of languages doesn’t consider the usability goal and aimed to remove and replace conventional language features. Such languages are popular among hackers and hobbyists.

I have picked 5 languages that give nightmares to the conventional programmers. These languages are difficult to digest and unusual to understand.

5 difficult programming languages

1.Malbolge

Malbolge is one of the toughest programming languages. As a matter of fact, after its arrival, it took 2 years for writing first Malbolge program, just imagine now how difficult it is? It is said to be that the author of Malbolge programming language has never written a single program. It is public domain esoteric programming language created by Ben Olmsted in 1998.

Hello world program in Malbolge

(=<`#9]~6ZY32Vx/4Rs+0No-&Jk)”Fh}|Bcy?`=*z]Kw%oG4UUS0/@-ejc(:’8dc

2.Cow programming language

Cow programming language is released sometime in early 2013. It was designed with the bovine in the mind. Cows posses limited vocabulary skills, so the developers inherit the words known by them. The instructions language consists different variations of ‘moo’ that is, moO, MoO, mOo, mOO, Moo, and so on. It is a case-sensitive language and the other words & symbols in between the instructions of the language are ignored.

Hello world program in Cow programming language

MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo Moo MoO MoO MoO Moo OOO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOoMOo MOo MOo MOo MOo Moo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo Moo MoO MoO MoO Moo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo Moo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MOo MooOOO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO MoO Moo

3.Brainfuck

Brainfuck is an esoteric programming language introduced in 1993 by Urban Muller. The language is also similar to the title of the language ‘Brainfuck’ that is complicated and unusual. The language consists of eight commands and the program is the sequence of these commands. This language has an instruction pointer that begins at the first command and executes sequentially.

The eight commands of Brainfuck language are(each symbol is a command):
< > + – . , [ ]

Hello world in Brainfuck language

++++++++++[>+++++++>++++++++++>+++>+<<<<-]>++.>+.+++++++..+++.>++.<<+++++++++++++++.>.+++.——.——–.>+.>.

4.INTERCAL

INTERCAL is a compiler language with no pronounceable acronym. It is also an esoteric programming language created by Don Woods and James M. Lyon. At the same time, it mocks the aspects of various programming languages.

Hello World in INTERCAL

PLEASE DO ,1 <- #13

DO ,1 SUB #1 <- #238
DO ,1 SUB #2 <- #112
DO ,1 SUB #3 <- #112
DO ,1 SUB #4 <- #0
DO ,1 SUB #5 <- #64
DO ,1 SUB #6 <- #238
DO ,1 SUB #7 <- #26
DO ,1 SUB #8 <- #248
DO ,1 SUB #9 <- #168
DO ,1 SUB #10 <- #24
DO ,1 SUB #11 <- #16
DO ,1 SUB #12 <- #158
DO ,1 SUB #13 <- #52

PLEASE READ OUT ,1
PLEASE GIVE UP

5.Whitespace

Whitespace is another esoteric programming language introduced by Edwin Brady and Chris Morris. In this languages, Whitespace characters like space, tab, and linefeeds have meaning. The interpreter ignores all the non-whitespace characters. The language itself is an imperative stack-based language and the virtual machines on which program runs have heap and stack. Surprisingly, the language is released on the 1st April 2003(April fools day).

Hello World in Whitespace