A write-only language is a programming language with syntax (or semantics) sufficiently dense and bizarre that any routine of significant size is automatically write-only code. Write-only code is source code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 so arcane, complex, or ill-structured that it cannot be reliably modified or even comprehended by anyone with the possible exception of the author.

Description

Write-only language is also referred to as line noise, suggesting that the code looks like spurious characters from signal noise in the communication line. Some programmers believe that certain languages make it easy to write (subjectively) "bad" programs. In such a language it would be more difficult to read, understand, and modify existing source code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 than to start over and rewrite it from scratch

Rewrite (programming)

A rewrite in computer programming is the act or result of re-implementing a large portion of existing functionality without re-use of its source code. When the rewrite is not using existing code at all, it is common to speak of a rewrite from scratch...

.

Languages that are often derided as write-only include APL

APL programming language

APL is an interactive array-oriented language and integrated development environment, which is available from a number of commercial and noncommercial vendors and for most computer platforms. It is based on a mathematical notation developed by Kenneth E...

, DDT

Dynamic debugging technique

Dynamic Debugging Technique, or DDT, was the name of several debugger programs originally developed for DEC hardware, initially known as DEC Debugging Tape because it was distributed on paper tape. The name is a pun on the insecticide Dynamic Debugging Technique, or DDT, was the name of several...

, Forth, TECO

Text Editor and Corrector

TECO is a text editor originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s, after which it was modified by 'just about everybody'...

, and regular expression

Regular expression

In computing, a regular expression provides a concise and flexible means for "matching" strings of text, such as particular characters, words, or patterns of characters. Abbreviations for "regular expression" include "regex" and "regexp"...

 syntax used in various languages. Attributes that these languages have in common include a large set of operators and a syntax which permits (or encourages) the writing of very dense code. It is also a common feature of esoteric programming language

Esoteric programming language

An esoteric programming language is a programming language designed as a test of the boundaries of computer programming language design, as a proof of concept, or as a joke...

s that strive to have obfuscated code

Obfuscated code

Obfuscated code is source or machine code that has been made difficult to understand for humans. Programmers may deliberately obfuscate code to conceal its purpose or its logic to prevent tampering, deter reverse engineering, or as a puzzle or recreational challenge for someone reading the source...

, such as INTERCAL

INTERCAL

INTERCAL, a programming language parody, is an esoteric programming language that was created by Don Woods and James M. Lyon, two Princeton University students, in 1972. It satirizes aspects of the various programming languages at the time, as well as the proliferation of proposed language...

.

External links

• Write-Only Language entry in the Jargon File
  Jargon File
  The Jargon File is a glossary of computer programmer slang. The original Jargon File was a collection of terms from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities, including Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Carnegie Mellon...