Parse, Don't Validate by Alexis King
Shares rank 15 of 60 articles by recommenders
Recommended as a concise, mindset-changing classic on turning data into types instead of validating it. Critics say its division-by-zero example is weak.
Recommended as a concise, mindset-changing classic on turning data into types instead of validating it. Critics say its division-by-zero example is weak.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 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
Mindset-altering, transformational read
“A really mindset-altering read for me”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Parse, Don't Validate (2019)” “was transformational for me”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Parse, Don't Validate (2019)” Great, classic article
“This is a great article, but people often trip over the title and draw unusual conclusions.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Parse, Don't Validate (2019)” “The very classic parse don't valide if you haven't already read it”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “We chose OCaml to write Stategraph”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Division-by-zero example is weak
“the division-by-zero example used in this article is not the best example to demonstrate”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Parse, Don't Validate and Type-Driven Design in Rust”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Parse, Don't Validate by Alexis KingThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“For those who haven't read "Parse, Don't Validate"”
“Filler language and useless metaphors everywhere.”
“a concise post like this with the what and the why is fantastic as reference material”
“the division-by-zero example used in this article is not the best example to demonstrate”
“A really mindset-altering read for me”
“This is a great article, but people often trip over the title and draw unusual conclusions.”
“was transformational for me”
“The very classic parse don't valide if you haven't already read it”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.