8 Oldest Programming Languages Still in Use

Fortran 

Developed in the 1950s by IBM, Fortran (short for Formula Translation) is one of the oldest high-level programming languages. It was designed for scientific and engineering computations and is still used in various scientific and technical fields. 

COBOL

Short for Common Business-Oriented Language, COBOL was introduced in the early 1960s. It was created for business, finance, and administrative applications, and many critical legacy systems are still built on COBOL. 

Lisp 

Developed in the late 1950s, Lisp is one of the oldest programming languages and is known for its unique data structure, the linked list. It remains influential in the field of artificial intelligence and is still used in certain specialized applications. 

C

Created in the early 1970s, C is a general-purpose programming language that has become one of the most widely used languages worldwide. It serves as the foundation for many other programming languages and operating systems. 

PL/I 

Developed in the 1960s by IBM, PL/I (Programming Language One) was designed as a combination of COBOL and Fortran. Although not as popular as some other languages, it is still used in some legacy systems. 

ALGOL 

Introduced in the late 1950s, ALGOL (Algorithmic Language) was one of the first high-level programming languages. While not widely used today, its influence is evident in the development of subsequent languages. 

BASIC 

Developed in the mid-1960s, BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was created to make programming more accessible to non-experts. It was widely used in the early personal computer era and is still used in educational settings and certain applications. 

Pascal 

Created in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pascal was designed for teaching programming and structured programming concepts. It is still used in educational environments and certain niche applications. 

Download Programming Language Books, Study Notes, Test Series & More.