ARexx
Hacker ApprovedRanked 10 of 14 scripting languages by recommenders
Amiga's built-in scripting language that let applications communicate through message ports and be automated. People praise its design and say it could have played the role Python does now.
Amiga's built-in scripting language that let applications communicate through message ports and be automated. People praise its design and say it could have played the role Python does now.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Lets programs communicate and be scripted
“The pinnacle of workflow design on the Amiga was of course ARexx which allowed applications to communicate through message ports and automation scripts.”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “Playing Atari ST Music on the Amiga with Zero CPU” “ARexx allowed any application that supported it to communicate with each other, and to be scripted”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Palmier Pro – open-source macOS video editor built for AI” Built into the OS, widely integrated
“a standard OS-supplied scripting language that every self-respecting software program integrated with (ARexx)”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “July 23 1985, Commodore introduced its Amiga 1000: 10 years ahead of its time” “The built-in scripting language was Rexx which I feel could have played the role Python does now”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Screenshots of Old Desktop OSes” Bold, well-chosen scripting design
“using Rexx as the scripting engine was a bold and great choice.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop” “Rexx scripting on the desktop was glorious in 1995.”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “The Tower Keeps Rising” Makes automation easy and powerful
“would make a lot of cool things very easy to do”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Fixing a 20-year-old bug in Enlightenment E16” “appreciated what things like ARexx could do”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “July 23 1985, Commodore introduced its Amiga 1000: 10 years ahead of its time”
Other scripting languages people recommend
The four most recommended other scripting languages, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lua | 186 | 62 | 75% | 12 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| awk | 67 | 18 | 79% | 12 | — | Approved |
| AutoHotkey | 44 | 5 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| GDScript | 22 | 16 | 58% | 9 | — | — |
| ARexxThis page | 11 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
11 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“using Rexx as the scripting engine was a bold and great choice.”
“ARexx allowed any application that supported it to communicate with each other, and to be scripted”
“appreciated what things like ARexx could do”
“a standard OS-supplied scripting language that every self-respecting software program integrated with (ARexx)”
“I hate the language, but loved the ports”
“Rexx scripting on the desktop was glorious in 1995.”
“versus datatypes and ARexx”
“The pinnacle of workflow design on the Amiga was of course ARexx which allowed applications to communicate through message ports and automation scripts.”
“We have tried REXX and Assembler and they work decently”
“The built-in scripting language was Rexx which I feel could have played the role Python does now”
“would make a lot of cool things very easy to do”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.