[alwinw]

Interesting read, and would have been good to see the author’s definition of ‘mostly dead’. Some are still used widely in niche areas like COBOL for banking. If a language itself isn’t receiving any updates nor are new packages being developed by users, is it mostly dead?

[Rochus]

In any case, the author claims that each of these languages is "dead". There is a "Cause of Death" section for each language, which doesn't allow for another conclusion. By listing languages like ALGOL, APL, CLU, or Simula, the author implies that he means by "dead" "no longer in practical use, or just as an academic/historic curiosity". The article contradicts itself by listing languages like COBOL, BASIC, PL/I, Smalltalk, Pascal, or ML, for which there is still significant practical use, even with investments for new features and continuation of the language and its applications. The article actually disqualifies by listing COBOL or Pascal as "mostly dead", because there is still a large market and significant investment in these languages (companies such as Microfocus and Embarcadero make good money from them). It is misleading and unscientific to equate “no longer mainstream” with “no longer in use.” This makes the article seem arbitrary, poorly researched, and the author not credible.