As of 2021 the robotics industry is undergoing amazingly fast changes in terms of the type of programming languages they use for their robots.
But if you go into cany older warehouse or plant you will come across older CNC machines, PLC controllers and industrial arms controlled with their own manufacturers language.
There are at least a few dozen major robot arm manufacturers each with their own proprietary language to control their robots.
Although most languages will share similarities in how they handle the code, it is useful to know that there are software tools like a post processor that would allow you to convert older code to something more useful.
In the 70s thru to the 2000’s there has always been a need to convert old code like the business language of COBOL into more modern database driven languages.
Lets mention a few industrial robot languages and later add more information about some of them.
Cuda is often mentioned as a language while some call it a software layer to the GPU.
It is considered essential skill for developing some deep learning and neural nets.
VAL3 is often mentioned and it was used with the Staubil robot equipent.
Other languages were. Karel with Fanuc, Inform with Yaskawa, AS with Kawasaki, PDL2 with Comau, RAPID with ABB, KRL with Kuka,
There are other techniques and methodologies like RPA (Robotic Process Automation).
Of course you will come across Matlab which many still call the most important language for technical computing and robotics.
Matlab stands for Matrix laboratory and is used by researchers and engineers with Simulink to design and simulate autonomous systems and more.
Some people wonder how it compares to a language like Python which is more of a general purpose language.
MatLab is apparently the main language dedicated to mathematical and technical computing and is said to be very easy to use and one of the most productive of its kind.
Apparently many are able to do matrix and vector calculations with ease in Matlab which are quite difficult to do in a general purpose language like Python.
(under construction Aug 25, 2021)