title: What is the worst programming language you ever worked with?
body: <blockquote>
    <p>If you have an interesting story to
    share, <strong>please post an answer</strong>, but
    do not abuse this question for bashing
    a language.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>We are programmers, and our primary tool is the programming language we use.</p>
  
  <p>While there is a lot of discussion about the best one, <strong>I'd like to hear your stories about
  the worst programming languages you ever worked with</strong> and I'd like to know exactly what annoyed you.</p>
  
  <p>I'd like to collect this stories partly to avoid common pitfalls while designing a language (especially a DSL) and partly to avoid quirky languages in the future in general.</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><em>This question is <strong>not subjective</strong>. If a language supports only single character identifiers (see <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/961966#961966">my own answer</a>) this is <strong>bad in a non-debatable way</strong>.</em> </p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>
  
  <p>Some people have raised concerns that this question attracts trolls.
  Wading through all your answers made one thing clear.
  The large majority of answers is appropriate, useful and well written.</p>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATE 2009-07-01 19:15 GMT</strong></p>
  
  <p>The language overview is now complete, covering <strong>103 different languages</strong> from 102 answers.
  I decided to be lax about what counts as a programming language and included
  anything reasonable. Thank you <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/67468/david">David</a> for your comments on this. </p>
  
  <p>Here are all programming languages covered so far
  (alphabetical order, linked with answer, new entries in bold):</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1063030#1063030">ABAP</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962260#962260">all 20th century languages</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962481#962481">all drag and drop languages</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962626#962626">all proprietary languages</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963285#963285">APF</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1055401#1055401">APL</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962250#962250"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963866#963866">AS400</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970167#970167">Authorware</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962519#962519">Autohotkey</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963317#963317">BancaStar</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962109#962109">BASIC</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1062383#1062383">Bourne Shell</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963251#963251">Brainfuck</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1068492#1068492"><strong>C++</strong></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1062438#1062438">Centura Team Developer</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963784#963784">Cobol</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962131#962131"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/975441#975441">Cold Fusion</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963314#963314">Coldfusion</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1013303#1013303">CRM114</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1015255#1015255">Crystal Syntax</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970053#970053">CSS</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1062713#1062713">Dataflex 2.3</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962735#962735">DB/c DX</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965829#965829">dbase II</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962732#962732">DCL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962385#962385">Delphi IDE</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/961966#961966">Doors DXL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962616#962616">DOS batch</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962463#962463"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962760#962760">Excel Macro language</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962843#962843">FileMaker</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/964457#964457">FOCUS</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1055401#1055401">Forth</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/978122#978122">FORTRAN</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/968078#968078">FORTRAN 77</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/969596#969596">HTML</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/975413#975413">Illustra web blade</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1069194#1069194"><strong>Informix 4th Generation Language</strong></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/975413#975413">Informix Universal Server web blade</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970359#970359">INTERCAL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/969938#969938">Java</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1055127#1055127">JavaScript</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962160#962160"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1055419#1055419">JCL</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970145#970145"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/961959#961959">karol</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/961966#961966">LabTalk</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1066309#1066309">Labview</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/971877#971877">Lingo</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962411#962411">LISP</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963366#963366">Logo</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962223#962223">LOLCODE</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/964549#964549">LotusScript</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962750#962750">m4</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962516#962516">Magic II</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962719#962719">Makefiles</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962095#962095">MapBasic</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970158#970158">MaxScript</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/970179#970179">Meditech Magic</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962678#962678">MEL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962529#962529">mIRC Script</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962113#962113">MS Access</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965885#965885">MUMPS</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962180#962180">Oberon</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1062678#1062678">object extensions to C</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962176#962176">Objective-C</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965781#965781">OPS5</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962680#962680">Oz</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962232#962232">Perl</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962634#962634"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962146#962146">PHP</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1070529#1070529"><strong>PL/SQL</strong></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962568#962568">PowerDynamo</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962356#962356">PROGRESS 4GL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962698#962698">prova</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963347#963347">PS-FOCUS</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962459#962459">Python</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962570#962570">Regular Expressions</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1069230#1069230"><strong>RPG</strong></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965907#965907">RPG II</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/963784#963784">Scheme</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962843#962843">ScriptMaker</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962750#962750">sendmail.conf</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962129#962129">Smalltalk</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/978145#978145">Smalltalk </a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965711#965711">SNOBOL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/978108#978108">SpeedScript</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1012198#1012198">Sybase PowerBuilder</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/964501#964501">Symbian C++</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962469#962469">System RPL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962100#962100">TCL</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962250#962250">TECO</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/975845#975845">The Visual Software Environment</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962201#962201">Tiny praat</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962110#962110">TransCAD</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1012145#1012145">troff</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962736#962736">uBasic</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962204#962204">VB6</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962399#962399"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962156#962156">VBScript</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962399#962399"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1062713#1062713">VDF4</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/1068428#1068428"><strong>Vimscript</strong></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965443#965443">Visual Basic</a>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962378#962378"><sup>(1)</sup></a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/962387#962387">Visual C++</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/961960#961960">Visual Foxpro</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/975845#975845">VSE</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/978108#978108">Webspeed</a>,
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/961942/what-is-the-worst-programming-language-you-ever-worked-with/965759#965759">XSLT</a></p>
  
  <p>The answers covering 80386 assembler, VB6 and VBScript have been removed. </p>