# HyperCard 62 Hacker News commenters recommended HyperCard and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended for rapid prototyping and an easy entry into programming, with HyperTalk scripting and a built-in database and UI builder. Critics note its security model was weak and its stacks were often rough. ## Why people recommend it - Welcoming entry point for beginners (5 comments): "My first introduction to software engineering was via HyperCard in an advanced elementary school math class" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47329791)) "I loved HyperCard when I was a kid. It encouraged programming in a visual way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47071086)) "Hypercard was absolutely dope as an entry-level programming environment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47028267)) - Influenced later software and computing (4 comments): "I knew HyperCard had influence, but I don't think I was quite prepared for just how much influence it had over this many people." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46268102)) "HyperCard, OSX, the phones, those really moved things forward independently of the rest of the industry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47543774)) "Imagine if computing had continued down the path laid by systems like HyperCard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47328108)) - Fast rapid prototyping of apps (4 comments): "One of my "funnest" little projects was writing up a little app (in Hypercard) for a division director who didn't know computers from a ham sandwich, and it was just right." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47043476)) "I had fun with hypercard on MacOS 9. At work, even. The boss was into rapid prototyping, and I cooked up some damn productive stacks in a hurry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46085404)) "Fantastic rapid prototyping environment with no-brainer UI elements and persistent database." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49085499)) - Built-in database and UI building (4 comments): "It was so, so easy to design UIs with Hypercard when you knew it was going to run on a 512×342 display." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48463507)) "Fantastic rapid prototyping environment with no-brainer UI elements and persistent database." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49085499)) "HyperCard gave you a somewhat natural language, instant persistent database and UI builder" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49690840)) ## What people warn about - Apple discontinued and stopped supporting it (4 comments): "They had a really cool thing going, but since it didn't contribute directly to the bottom line corporate had it killed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49072687)) "effectively killing in-the-box end-user programming on the Mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46214359)) "it was never allowed or positioned to fulfill its potential" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47290786)) - Limited features compared to modern tools (2 comments): "The HyperCOD(e) version is limited, but you can go next card, and run on idle commands." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47182348)) "It was really limited though" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49064244)) - Stacks often ugly, buggy, unintuitive (2 comments): "the world's least intuitive HyperCard stack" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50082555)) "all stacks were horrible, ugly and buggy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47515471)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [QBasic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qbasic.md): 27 recommend - [QuickBASIC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quickbasic.md): 8 recommend - [Folk Computer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/folk-computer.md): 6 recommend - [Glamorous Toolkit](https://hackerapproved.com/p/glamorous-toolkit.md): 6 recommend - [DrRacket](https://hackerapproved.com/p/drracket.md): 5 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "HyperCard", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hypercard/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).