# jank programming language

18 Hacker News commenters recommended jank programming language and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Native LLVM-based Clojure dialect with seamless C++ interop, appealing for low-level work. Main caveat: it lacks protocols, so many existing Clojure libraries don't work on it.

## Why people recommend it

- Seamless direct C++ library interop (8 comments): "great progress was made on Jank, the native LLVM-based implementation with seamless low-level C++ interop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45793136)) "It's full Clojure, immutable and stuff, with full C++ interop and native compilation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206766)) "jank can seamlessly interop with any C++ by just including the headers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50212742))
- Promising and exciting project (7 comments): "I prefer https://jank-lang.org/ new re-design, and the approach of a more step-wise refinement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48959772)) "I haven't been this excited about the Clojure ecosystem since Jank got announce" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48066656)) "Jank in particular will probably be a good contender for a LispTorch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45798191))
- Native LLVM-based compilation (4 comments): "great progress was made on Jank, the native LLVM-based implementation with seamless low-level C++ interop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45793136)) "It's full Clojure, immutable and stuff, with full C++ interop and native compilation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206766)) "The way it interops Clojure with the LLVM is unprecedented." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48950021))
- Clojure dialect for low-level work (4 comments): "repl driven development with access to native code could be a magic formula for agent engineering" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50203669)) "It's full Clojure, immutable and stuff, with full C++ interop and native compilation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206766)) "I haven't been this excited about the Clojure ecosystem since Jank got announce" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48066656))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust.md): 2039 recommend
- [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language.md): 1254 recommend
- [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python.md): 1067 recommend
- [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig.md): 743 recommend
- [TypeScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/typescript.md): 574 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "jank programming language", https://hackerapproved.com/p/jank/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).