Maxims for malfeasant designers, or how to design languages to make programming as difficult as possible

Communication with the computer is by artificial languages: programming languages and command languages, as well as ad hoc languages of messages. While many such languages are sufficiently rich to permit proper expression of what must be said, some are so limited or inconsistent that a user must go to needless effort in learning the language and using it to communicate successfully with the computer. As part of the final exam of a course on the design of computer languages for human use, students were asked to suggest what “... the language designer can do to make the programming process as difficult as possible.” This paper contains some of the more popular responses, annotated with examples from current programming languages and systems.1