I used ChatGPT to write the same routine in these ten obscure programming languages

BAL, short for "basic assembly language," served as the assembly language for large IBM mainframe systems during the 1970s and 1980s. Assembly language is categorized as a "lower level" language compared to "higher level languages," as it directly corresponds to individual processor instructions. In contrast, higher level languages (such as those commonly used today) are more abstracted from the underlying machine architecture, focusing on programming efficiency rather than hardware optimization.

BAL, which stands for "basic assembly language," was the assembly language used for IBM mainframes in the 1970s and 1980s. Assembly language is considered more "low-level" than "high-level languages," as each instruction and keyword in assembly language directly corresponds to a processor instruction. In higher-level languages commonly used today, the language is designed to be more efficient for programming rather than hardware utilization.

I took a semester of BAL in college, and it was quite challenging. The professor would often deliver his lectures with his back turned to the students, speaking in a monotonous tone while incessantly writing on the blackboard. I sat in the back row alongside a girl named Laura. One day, we decided to sneak out the back window for a coffee break. After getting our caffeine fix, we climbed back through the window, unnoticed by the professor.

It's a miracle any of us passed the course, but it's no surprise that very few of us opted for BAL programming as our coding tool of choice.

APL

APL, short for A Programming Language, is another unique programming language. One of its notable features is the use of a non-standard character set for certain operators and coding conventions. You can observe this in the image below. The small symbols displayed are what ChatGPT was able to retrieve from its font, but APL is specifically designed to be used with the APL385 Unicode font, which is specific to APL programming.

Due to its concise syntax and effective handling of extensive datasets, APL is commonly employed in various scientific, financial, and analytical projects.

Prolog

Prolog, which derives its name from "Programming in Logic," is another language with a focus on AI. Prolog is a declarative language in which rules and conditions are defined, and queries are run based on those declarations. According to ChatGPT:

Prolog is one of the programming languages used in the development of ChatGPT, specifically for text generation. It is utilized in the Prolog-to-English module, responsible for transforming logical forms in Prolog into natural language sentences.

Smalltalk

Smalltalk is a remarkable programming language originating from Xerox PARC, the research lab that also influenced the creation of the mouse and windowed environments. Smalltalk incorporated advancements in object-oriented programming from Simula and took them further. Furthermore, it was one of the first languages to actively employ a GUI-based interactive programming environment. Many of today's popular languages, including Java, Python, and Ruby, drew significant inspiration from Smalltalk.

I had the opportunity to explore Smalltalk briefly, mainly for educational purposes. Living in Silicon Valley at the time, I became acquainted with the creators of Smalltalk, who later founded ParcPlace Systems to commercialize Smalltalk beyond Xerox's corporate environment. I have fond memories of engaging in programming discussions over ribs and coleslaw at a quaint barbecue joint in Palo Alto.

One of the vice presidents at the computer company I worked for even tried to persuade me to start a company with him, leveraging Smalltalk to target the enterprise market. However, I wasn't yet bitten by the startup bug. Unfortunately, Smalltalk never gained significant market traction. Nevertheless, I am content with the path my life has taken, but occasionally, I ponder what outcomes would have arisen had I accepted his offer.

I have thoughts

I did not execute this code, and since I am more familiar with PHP and JavaScript rather than these languages, I cannot guarantee that the code would run successfully solely based on a visual review. As we witnessed earlier this week with Bard's foray into programming, it is possible to write code that does not function as expected.

Additionally: I asked ChatGPT to write a WordPress plugin I needed, and it did so in under 5 minutes

It is worth noting that each example contains at least one error: the headers are incorrect. While AI's capability to generate code in relatively obscure languages is impressively cool, it should not be assumed that it can completely fulfill the task accurately.

If you decide to incorporate ChatGPT programming into your workflow, it is necessary to review, test, and debug the generated code, just as you would if you hired someone to develop basic routines for you.