Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Today we do an analysis of the **Top 5 Most Obscure Programming Languages Still in Real-World Use**, defining "obscure" by metrics like low Stack Overflow tagging and limited GitHub presence, while requiring active ecosystems and verifiable production deployments.
These languages—**MUMPS, Forth, J, kdb+/Q, and Ada**—fill essential niches across fields like healthcare, finance, aerospace, and embedded systems, often due to their domain-specific performance or regulatory lock-in.
For instance, MUMPS excels in hierarchical databases for clinical records, Forth is used in ultra-low-resource embedded systems like Mars rovers, and Ada is favoured for safety-critical avionics due to its stringent certification pedigree.
We conclude that while these languages persist because the cost of replacement is prohibitive, the reliance on a shrinking pool of aging specialist programmers constitutes a significant and growing strategic risk for the organizations that employ them. Alternatively with the law of supply and demand - as the number of programmers declines and demand remains steady, the salaries of these staff stays steady or even rises, giving opportunities for new staff entering these fields.
Source files and an Index to all our YouTube videos are accessible from here
gsfsoftware.co.uk/PBTutorials/Projects.htm
I don't work for, nor am I paid by, or sponsored by, the owners of PowerBASIC or any other company mentioned in this podcast, I'm just a fan of their products.
For more information on PowerBASIC visit
pbusers.org
OR
pump.richheimer.de/index.php
Music by ghosthack.de
Today we do an analysis of the **Top 5 Most Obscure Programming Languages Still in Real-World Use**, defining "obscure" by metrics like low Stack Overflow tagging and limited GitHub presence, while requiring active ecosystems and verifiable production deployments.
These languages—**MUMPS, Forth, J, kdb+/Q, and Ada**—fill essential niches across fields like healthcare, finance, aerospace, and embedded systems, often due to their domain-specific performance or regulatory lock-in.
For instance, MUMPS excels in hierarchical databases for clinical records, Forth is used in ultra-low-resource embedded systems like Mars rovers, and Ada is favoured for safety-critical avionics due to its stringent certification pedigree.
We conclude that while these languages persist because the cost of replacement is prohibitive, the reliance on a shrinking pool of aging specialist programmers constitutes a significant and growing strategic risk for the organizations that employ them. Alternatively with the law of supply and demand - as the number of programmers declines and demand remains steady, the salaries of these staff stays steady or even rises, giving opportunities for new staff entering these fields.
Source files and an Index to all our YouTube videos are accessible from here
gsfsoftware.co.uk/PBTutorials/Projects.htm
I don't work for, nor am I paid by, or sponsored by, the owners of PowerBASIC or any other company mentioned in this podcast, I'm just a fan of their products.
For more information on PowerBASIC visit
pbusers.org
OR
pump.richheimer.de/index.php
Music by ghosthack.de
