# Amber programming language

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/amber-programming-language/

7 people recommended Amber programming language in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 12 months, in 1 thread. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

7 of the 7 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Amber the programming language compiled to Bash/Ksh/Zsh”.

**Verdict:** People recommend Amber for easier shell scripting that compiles to Bash, Ksh and Zsh, though critics say it hides bash's ergonomics behind another language.

Summary written by Claude from 15 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Developers plan to try it (2 comments in the sample): "I'm going to be looking into Amber again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48875690)) "I'm a fan of this project. Great work!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48876056))
- Easier to write than bash (1 comment in the sample): "Much needed. I have hard time understanding bash." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48874006))

## What people warn about

- Hides bash ergonomics behind another language (2 comments in the sample): "this sacrifices the ergonomics of actual bash scripting, and hides it behind another language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48874275)) "Literally the worst of both worlds." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48874016))

## Other programming languages people recommend

- [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust/): 1346 recommend, 468 mixed, 715 criticize
- [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language/): 855 recommend, 270 mixed, 513 criticize
- [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python/): 683 recommend, 261 mixed, 719 criticize
- [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig/): 454 recommend, 181 mixed, 358 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Amber programming language", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amber-programming-language/ (7 recommend, 1 mixed, 6 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.