Are you a beginner who’s just starting to learn how to program? My friends note the languages discussed below because they are the hardest programming languages to learn in 2024.
When we started building programming languages it was mere 0s and 1s, a programmer’s nightmare. Still, in this ever-evolving world humans made things easy and now we have high-level languages very similar to your everyday English. Yet, some hard programming languages can’t be mastered without mind-numbing practice and resilience.
Today, we’ll delve deeper into what makes these programming languages so hard to learn, what languages are the hardest to learn, and what some of the best practices are for learning programming languages in 2024.
Criterion for Hardest Programming Language
Numerous factors contribute to making a programming language hard to learn, but none are more important than the following
- Syntax Complexity: The clarity and simplicity of syntax can greatly influence how easy it is to learn and use a language effectively. Languages with simpler syntax are easy to learn at a beginner level.
- Conceptual Depth: The level of understanding required for advanced concepts such as memory management and concurrency can significantly impact the difficulty.
- Error Handling: How a language handles errors and debugging can make learning and development more challenging. Ask any programmer they’ll tell you how big a nightmare is debugging.
- Learning Resources: The availability and quality of resources for learning a language can be crucial, including online courses, communities, and its use in the market.
Keeping these factors and a few others into consideration we’ve got our 10 most difficult programming languages to learn in 2024.
What are the hardest programming languages?
Our list includes some mainstream Programming Languages that are ever-evolving and have extremely complex advanced concepts whilst other programming languages on our list are hard to learn because they are so unorthodox. So, without wasting any more breath let’s get right to it!
Top 10 Hardest Programming Languages
Here are the most difficult programming languages to learn in 2024.
1.) Malbolge: No.1 Hardest Programming Languages
We can’t talk about the hardest programming language without mentioning Malbolge, a language named after Dante’s 8th Circle of Hell and engineered to be, well, basically unprogrammable. It’s an esoteric language, a concept, or a joke for the programmers.
But what exactly makes Malbolge such a difficult programming language?
- Self-Altering Code: Malbolge’s code changes as it runs, nearly impossible to understand
- Strange Syntax: The syntax is intentionally made difficult to learn
- No Community: There’s little to no developer community or tutorials for Malbolge.
- No Debugger
All these factors contribute to making it one of the top 10 most difficult programming Languages to learn.
2.) BrainF***
Another esoteric language that makes our list is BrainFuck, and it precisely follows its name. This Programming language is a developer’s nightmare with only 8 commands, all of which are single-character. Due to this BrainF*** is difficult to comprehend and even more difficult to program. Unlike Malbolge though, BrainFuck has multiple interpreters.
Reasons for difficulty
- Limited Commands: With only 8 commands BrainFuck is an extremely low-level language with minimum programmability.
- Complex Syntax: Although you can implement loops and conditional statements with BrainF***, decoding that could be a nuisance.
- Debugging Issues: With a limited Command set and confusing syntax, debugging an error is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Without a doubt, BrainF*** is one of the hardest languages to master.
3.) C++
C++ is a powerful, high-performance language that is widely used in system/software development, game development, and real-time simulation. C++ was developed to further extend the concepts of C language, but in recent years Java & Python have become more popular.
It’s easy to learn basic concepts in C++, but to become a master you need to be at the top of your game.
This is because, C++ allows both high-level programming and low-level programming (memory manipulation), making it a language with a steep learning curve, which is why it’s one of the hardest programming languages in the world.
Reasons for Difficulty:
- Memory Management: Requires manual memory management, which can lead to issues like memory leaks or pointer errors.
- Complicated Syntax: The syntax is complicated, missing a semi-colon would make your code unusable.
- Huge Standard Library: The large standard library can be overwhelming for all.
- Multiple Paradigms: Supports multiple programming paradigms, procedural, OOP, etc.
C++ is one of the most demanding languages in the world right now.
4.) Rust
Rust is a systems programming language that’s designed to be safe, concurrent, and practical. Rust is heavily influenced by low-level languages such as C and is one of the most widely used languages in embedded systems and game development.
Rust focuses on memory integrity, concurrency, and overall safety. It is one of those languages that could be extremely troublesome for up-and-coming programmers,
Especially due to the following reasons they are the hardest programming languages
- Inflexibility: Another difficult trait to master is Rust’s inflexibility in comparison to other low-level languages, and you need to get things right with it.
- Strict Compiler: The compiler is intolerant and will not allow code to compile unless it is entirely safe, a concept similar to C, which makes it one of the top 10 most difficult programming languages.
- Concurrency Model: Rust’s concurrency model is different from other languages, requiring a new way of thinking about parallelism.
Rust will make your brain rust if you are inflexible like wrought iron, Chemistry Joke, check.
5.) Haskell
Haskell is a functional programming language with strict static typing. It places a strong focus on mathematical expressions and their immutability. Haskell is used in some compilers and it uses a lot of lambda expressions and type polymorphism, concepts that aren’t used in typical coding.
Haskell’s abstract nature and lazy evaluation alongside limited learning material is a factor why it’s considered one of the top 10 hardest languages to learn in 2024,
Why are they the hardest programming languages?
- Changing of the guard: Usually, programmers come from an imperative learning background of Java and C, but this functional programming aspect of Haskell can make one crazy.
- Lazy Evaluation: This language has lazy evaluation, meaning, expressions are only debugged when necessary.
- Limited Learning Material: Scarce courses and tutorials to learn Haskell.
- Advanced Type System: Haskell’s type system is robust yet intricate, with challenging features like type inference and monads.
I’m trying to do Haskell but think again, it might not be that easy.
6.) Lisp
Lisp, the second oldest programming language, is known for parenthesis-based syntax and powerful macro system. Lisp stands for list processing and has been pivotal in some of the OS. Although it has influenced many modern programming languages, Lisp’s syntax can be very challenging even for a tenured Programmer. Its symbolic expressions make it feel very different from more conventional programming languages and that is why it can be so hard to master.
Reasons for Difficulty:
- Parenthesis-Heavy Syntax: The extensive use of parentheses can make the code hard to read and understand for those not familiar with the language.
- Macrosystem: Lisp’s macro system is extremely powerful but also time-consuming to learn and master.
- Symbolic Expressions: Lisp uses symbolic expressions (s-expressions) that are extremely different and hence difficult to learn in comparison to other languages.
All these reasons alongside a scarcity of well-developed community make Lisp one of the top 10 most difficult programming languages to learn.
7.) Prolog
Prolog is a logic programming language that’s widely used in artificial intelligence and computational linguistics. Prolog requires a declarative approach where problems are solved by defining facts, rules, and queries, something a normal programmer isn’t accustomed to. This way of development is extremely bespoke and incredibly challenging at first.
This model shift can be quite challenging for developers who are more familiar with concepts of OOP. But other reasons are contributing to Prolog’s difficulty, let’s take a look at them.
Why is it counted in the hardest programming languages?
- Declarative Structure: Prolog’s logic-based approach is very different from procedural programming, requiring a new way of thinking.
- Recursion: Heavy use of recursion, which is a fundamental concept in Prolog, can be difficult to master.
- Backtracking: Understanding Prolog’s backtracking mechanism, where the system automatically tries different possibilities to satisfy a query, is complex.
Trying to learn Prolog this time around, so do keep backtracking in mind.
8.) Erlang
Erlang is another functional and concurrent language on our list. It was developed by Ericsson for building scalable, fault-tolerant systems. While it excels in telecommunications and distributed systems, Erlang’s concurrency model and syntax can be difficult for those coming from the background of C/C++ or Java. Erlang is one of the languages that you can only learn from market experience which is why it’s one of the hardest coding languages to learn.
Reasons for Difficulty:
- Concurrency: Erlang’s concurrency model is different from the thread-based concurrency models used in other languages of similar structure.
- Functional Model: As a functional language, Erlang requires a different mindset than imperative or object-oriented languages.
- Syntax: Erlang’s syntax can be unconventional and difficult for beginners to learn.
Honestly, Erlang is one of our least favorite languages to learn because it’s so hard
9.) Assembly Language: Why they are counted in hardest programming languages
Assembly language is a low-level programming language that is closely related to machine code. This is one of the most interesting and challenging courses taught to Computer Science students
Each assembly language is specific to a particular computer architecture, making it necessary to understand the underlying hardware. While Assembly provides unmatched control over the machine, it requires meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of computer architecture, making it one of the hardest languages to learn. You need to be good at the understanding of hardware to be good at Assembly.
Reasons for Difficulty:
- Low-Level Operations: Requires direct manipulation of hardware resources, including memory addresses and CPU instructions.
- Architecture-Specific: Assembly is closely tied to the specific architecture of the CPU, a specific version of Windows and Linux will have different Assembly languages.
- Hardware is just as integral as Software: Because it’s so hardware-related language, you must know how the hardware works to be able to code in assembly.
- Complicated Debugging: Debugging Assembly code is challenging due to its low-level nature.
I hated my Assembly language course at the start, but over time it grew on me, this is something most Assembly language programmers would tell you.
10.) Objective-C
Objective-C is an object-oriented language that was the primary language used for developing software for macOS and iOS before Swift. While it’s powerful, Objective-C’s syntax, which blends C with Smalltalk, can be confusing and hard to read.
Additionally, Objective-C’s age means it lacks some of the modern conveniences found in newer languages., making it one of the hardest coding languages to learn in 2024.
Reasons for hardest programming languages:
- Hybrid Syntax: The mix of C and Smalltalk syntax can be confusing, especially for those who are not familiar with both languages.
- Verbose Code: Objective-C code tends to be more verbose, requiring more lines of code to accomplish tasks that are simpler in other languages.
- Manual Memory Management: Although automatic reference counting (ARC) helps, developers still need to understand and sometimes manually manage memory, which can be challenging.
All these factors combine to make it such a difficult language to understand.
Best Practices for Learning Hardest Programming Languages
Learning a new programming language can be hard but we’ll give you a simple 10-step road map for that;
- Start from the Start: Learn the Basics of a language and its usability before moving forward
- Consistency is Key: Give little time to learning a language, but spare time for learning regularly.
- Join a Community & get Tutorials: Our best Learning comes when we learn from people who’ve worked in the same language, so the best approach is to seek guidance from the developed community through social media groups and online available courses.
- Learn from Projects: Don’t focus on only theory, back it up with projects, small ones even. Make mistakes and learn from them, because they’ll be your biggest teacher.
- Never stop chasing: The best way to always be best at what you do is to keep on evolving with time, and that’s exactly what you have to do when learning a new programming language, always stay on your toes.
Conclusion
Today, we gave a detailed explanation of the top 10 hardest programming languages to learn. This year around and also gave you a 5-pointer road map on how to learn in a better manner. We’ll see you again soon, but do let us know, what’s the most difficult programming language to learn, in your opinion?
