Black
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 2 of 7 code formatters by recommenders
Opinionated Python formatter that ends style debates with one consistent, stable layout. Common caveat: it sometimes collapses lines against intended formatting, hurting readability.
Opinionated Python formatter that ends style debates with one consistent, stable layout. Common caveat: it sometimes collapses lines against intended formatting, hurting readability.
24 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 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
Consistent style ends review debates
“it was surprising how much time we reclaimed from not having to review coding style”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Process as a Proxy for Motivation” “I find the black/ruff formatting style in Python to be very consistent, which helps with git blame.”
Comment from 4 Nov 2025 in “At the end you use `git bisect`” “Consistency is key for readability”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Collaboration sucks” - Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59”
Stable, set-and-forget formatting
“These tools are some of the most set it and forget it things around.”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59” “Black's been stable for the past 4+ years.”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59” “Use black as format on save and you will never have a problem with that.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Mojo 1.0 Beta” - Comment from 12 May 2026 in “If AI Writes Your Code, Why Use Python?”
Pairs well with Ruff
“I use black/ruff on a lot of projects and it will only touch standard-y things like docstring spacing”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “SlopCodeBench 10/2026 – Opus 5.5, Astra wins overall, xhigh considered harmful” “Ruff/black support and enforce this.”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Collapses lines against intended layout
“always moving things back to one line, making them less readable”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59” “IMO it's insane to collapse lines when there are line comments”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59” “it breaks intends of formatting more often than it helps”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59”
Other code formatters people recommend
The four most recommended other code formatters, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gofmt | 26 | 5 | 84% | 10 | — | Approved |
| BlackThis page | 18 | 6 | 75% | 6 | — | Approved |
| FracturedJson | 18 | 2 | 90% | 2 | — | — |
| Prettier | 16 | 10 | 62% | 8 | — | — |
| Oxfmt | 14 | 9 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I use black/ruff on a lot of projects and it will only touch standard-y things like docstring spacing”
“specifically because it has no configurable options”
“it was surprising how much time we reclaimed from not having to review coding style”
“it would never get in my way the way black or ruff would regularly”
“always moving things back to one line, making them less readable”
“Ruff/black support and enforce this.”
“IMO it's insane to collapse lines when there are line comments”
“No one likes black formatting, but it's at least consistent.”
“These tools are some of the most set it and forget it things around.”
“Black's been stable for the past 4+ years.”
“it breaks intends of formatting more often than it helps”
“None of these tools catch that.”
“Black's default, which I like, has it keep any vertical spacing of comma separated things”
“It will save you 99% of headaches.”
“black's pretty good and definitely better than nothing”
“Use black as format on save and you will never have a problem with that.”
“move from Ruff back to black and stay the course”
“Those files became essentially unmergable from then on.”
“much faster that what we used before”
“Consistency is key for readability”
“I find the black/ruff formatting style in Python to be very consistent, which helps with git blame.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.