Which Programming Languages Might Vanish in the Next 20 Years?

Ruby

Ruby was released in 1999 and quickly became beloved for its ability to build applications rapidly, especially after the Ruby on Rails framework launched in 2004, propelling Ruby to the top of popularity charts.

However, its execution speed often lags behind languages such as JavaScript, Go, and Python, and its MVC architecture now feels outdated, leading to a decline in its ranking over the past decade and placing it on elimination lists.

Visual Basic

Visual Basic, launched by Microsoft in 1991 as a primary tool for Windows development, has long been unpopular among programmers.

With the release of C# in 2000—offering a more concise syntax, broader functionality, and better suitability for cloud and mobile development—many developers migrated away from VB, and Microsoft has indicated no further development plans for it.

Haskell

Haskell, created decades ago and popular throughout the 1990s, is now approaching the end of its era.

It is mainly used by researchers for complex calculations, but its steep learning curve limits its active user base, and its last stable release was in 2010, with little ongoing development.

Perl

Perl, popular since 1987 and once praised as a language for everyone, began to lose ground when Python appeared in the early 1990s.

Python’s simpler, more direct scripting approach quickly made it the preferred entry‑level language, causing Perl’s usage to steadily decline over the past fifteen years.

Objective‑C

Objective‑C has powered macOS, iOS, and OS X development for over two decades, but its usage has dwindled as Swift, introduced by Apple in 2014, offers automatic memory management, type safety, and better integration with modern Apple frameworks.

While some developers still maintain Objective‑C code, the trend indicates it will eventually be phased out.

Conclusion

Although these languages show declining trends, their disappearance is not guaranteed; sufficient effort from creators and communities—adding new features and maintaining relevance—could revive them. Nonetheless, newer, more efficient alternatives are likely to dominate the future.