K programming language
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 3 of 7 array programming languages by recommenders
Terse array language that people recommend for powerful, high-level code; the main caveat is cryptic symbols that are hard to read and type.
Terse array language that people recommend for powerful, high-level code; the main caveat is cryptic symbols that are hard to read and type.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 69%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not 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.
- 2.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Impressive results from high-level abstraction
“there really is something compelling to this sort of lifting of iterator at a time fiddling to a higher level of abstraction”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “The Concatative Language XY” “that k lang to me looks like an obfuscated code contest entry but the results are impressive”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “How to Program Computers (kos)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard-to-type non-standard symbols
“I strongly dislike this choice of using all the symbols that do not exist on normal keyboards.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Golfing APL/K in 90 Lines of Python” “Personally I find the custom symbols of APL and BQN to be easier to type and read than the ASCII of J and K.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Golfing APL/K in 90 Lines of Python” Cryptic, write-only code
“that k lang to me looks like an obfuscated code contest entry but the results are impressive”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “How to Program Computers (kos)” “Super terse and powerful. Pretty much write-only.”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Thinking in an Array Language” “it's very hard and often cryptic to read”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “War on Raze” - Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “A new runtime for k and q: l”
Other array programming languages people recommend
The four most recommended other array programming 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J programming language | 23 | 10 | 70% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Uiua | 20 | 4 | 83% | 9 | — | Approved |
| K programming languageThis page | 11 | 5 | 69% | 5 | — | Approved |
| BQN | 11 | 2 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| kdb+ q | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I spent time learning j and k, but the end result is that my solutions become too alien”
“Generally considered write-only :)”
“Super terse and powerful. Pretty much write-only.”
“definitely very much worth learning today”
“As for why it's obvious- it's not, really, but it's no less obvious than the word `where`”
“it's very hard and often cryptic to read”
“that k lang to me looks like an obfuscated code contest entry but the results are impressive”
“I appreciate mathematical notation, but this is not it.”
“K fucking rules if you're trying to minmax a game or balance your own.”
“the github repo linked, under "manual.md", has a link which redirects to malware”
“there really is something compelling to this sort of lifting of iterator at a time fiddling to a higher level of abstraction”
“I like K better than J aesthetically, but it's harder to recommend to beginners due to the fragmentation of the ecosystem.”
“Personally I find the custom symbols of APL and BQN to be easier to type and read than the ASCII of J and K.”
“I strongly dislike this choice of using all the symbols that do not exist on normal keyboards.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.