The End of an Era: Programming Languages Dying in 2023

Ruby on Rails, Objective-C, and More

Yasmin Rodriguez
4 min readJan 12, 2023
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

In the ever-evolving world of technology, programming languages come and go. Some languages rise to prominence and become widely adopted, while others fall out of favor and eventually become obsolete. In this article, we will take a controversial look at some of the programming languages that died in 2023, and discuss the reasons behind their demise.

The death of Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails, or simply Rails, is a web application framework written in the Ruby programming language. It was released in 2005 and quickly gained popularity among web developers due to its simplicity and conventional over-configuration approach. However, by 2023, the use of Rails has seen a significant decline.

One of the main reasons for Rails’ demise is the emergence of newer and more powerful web development frameworks. Languages such as Node.js and Go have gained popularity for their performance and scalability, making them more suitable for larger and more complex web applications. Additionally, the rise of microservices architecture has also contributed to the decline of Rails as it is not well suited for this type of architecture.

Another reason for Rails’ death is the lack of support for modern front-end technologies. With the rise of single-page applications and the use of JavaScript frameworks such as React and Angular, Rails has struggled to keep up. Its lack of support for these technologies has made it difficult for developers to create rich and interactive user experiences.

The death of Objective-C

Objective-C is an object-oriented programming language that was widely used for developing applications for Apple’s macOS and iOS operating systems. It was the primary language for iOS development for many years, but with the introduction of Swift in 2014, its usage has been declining. By 2023, Objective-C is no longer widely used for iOS development.

One of the main reasons for Objective-C’s demise is the introduction of Swift, which is a more modern and powerful language. Swift is designed to be easier to learn and use, and it offers many new features such as automatic reference counting, generics, and optional. Additionally, Swift also has better performance and is more suitable for large-scale projects.

Another reason for Objective-C’s death is the lack of support from Apple. With the release of Swift, Apple has shifted its focus towards the new language and has been actively promoting it over Objective-C. This has led to a decline in the number of Objective-C developers and a decrease in the number of resources and support available for the language.

The death of Lua

Lua is a lightweight, high-performance programming language that was widely used for game development and embedded systems. It was known for its small footprint, fast execution, and ease of use. However, in recent years, the use of Lua has seen a significant decline.

One of the main reasons for Lua’s demise is the emergence of newer and more powerful scripting languages such as Python and JavaScript. These languages have gained popularity due to their large standard libraries, extensive documentation, and large developer communities. Additionally, the rise of game development engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine, which have their own built-in scripting languages, has also contributed to the decline of Lua.

Another reason for Lua’s death is the lack of support for modern programming paradigms. Lua is a procedural language, which means it does not support modern concepts such as object-oriented programming and functional programming. This has made it difficult for developers to create maintainable and scalable code.

The death of Lua

Lua is a lightweight, high-performance programming language that was widely used for game development and embedded systems. It was known for its small footprint, fast execution, and ease of use. However, in recent years, the use of Lua has seen a significant decline.

One of the main reasons for Lua’s demise is the emergence of newer and more powerful scripting languages such as Python and JavaScript. These languages have gained popularity due to their large standard libraries, extensive documentation, and large developer communities. Additionally, the rise of game development engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine, which have their own built-in scripting languages, has also contributed to the decline of Lua.

Another reason for Lua’s death is the lack of support for modern programming paradigms. Lua is a procedural language, which means it does not support modern concepts such as object-oriented programming and functional programming. This has made it difficult for developers to create maintainable and scalable code.

The death of programming languages is a natural part of technological evolution. Some languages will fall out of favor as newer and more powerful languages emerge. However, it’s important to remember that each language has its own unique strengths and weaknesses and that what may be considered “dead” to one person, may be seen as a valuable tool to another. As developers, it’s important to be aware of the current trends and to be open to new languages, but also to not forget the lessons and strengths of the past.

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