Lil programming language
Ranked 7 of 7 array programming languages by recommenders
People recommend Lil for its small, uniform APL-like array language with first-class collections that scales up well. Critics say its shape-checking safety net is lost.
People recommend Lil for its small, uniform APL-like array language with first-class collections that scales up well. Critics say its shape-checking safety net is lost.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 5 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: 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 doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 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
Uniform grammar and clean API
“the current api/algebra (which is really nice!)”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Vector Graphics in Lil” “the Lil grammar is simple and uniform”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Decker” Collections and APL-like operators
“having first-class collections (lists, dictionaries, tables) and a richer set of APL-like operators makes Lil scale up much better”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Decker” “I'm quite pleased with these primitives as some of Lil's hidden pearls”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Vector Graphics in Lil”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Loses early shape-mismatch checking
“you gain those clean inflection-point and cartesian product idioms, but you lose the safety net of catching shape mismatches early”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “The Benefits of Conforming”
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 |
| BQN | 11 | 2 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| K programming language | 11 | 5 | 69% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Lil programming languageThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the Lil grammar is simple and uniform”
“It's going to look a lot more daunting to a first time programmer.”
“having first-class collections (lists, dictionaries, tables) and a richer set of APL-like operators makes Lil scale up much better”
“I'm quite pleased with these primitives as some of Lil's hidden pearls”
“the current api/algebra (which is really nice!)”
“I remember seeing Lil as the little language for Hypercard-like Decker”
“I think this way is cleaner”
“you gain those clean inflection-point and cartesian product idioms, but you lose the safety net of catching shape mismatches early”
“I've generally heard people say they find it comparatively accessible”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.