Rhombus
Shares rank 77 of 163 programming languages by recommenders
Racket-based language with Python-like infix syntax and powerful macros, recommended for readable, extensible programming. Caveat: significant indentation and rough edges.
Racket-based language with Python-like infix syntax and powerful macros, recommended for readable, extensible programming. Caveat: significant indentation and rough edges.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 65%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not 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
Python-like readable syntax
“it's basically an infix, Python-like syntax on top of Racket”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “Lisp's Influence on Ruby” “I like the Python-like indentation syntax of Rhombus”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “A Road to Lisp: Which Lisp” “all the power of Racket in a Python-like syntax”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “I keep bouncing off the Scheme language” - Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “A Friendly Introduction to Racket”
Powerful macros and extensibility
“The page does get around to making it clear that there is a huge focus on macros, which is something, but it takes a while to get there.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus version 1.0 is now available” “The customizable aspect being an open-compiler API that is accessible to a wide audience.”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available” “If you want the extensibility of Lisp with a readable syntax Rhombus is worth a go”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “A Road to Lisp: Which Lisp” - Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available”
Easy to use and customizable
“Rhombus is easy to use and uniquely customizable.”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available” “Uniquely extensible and easy to learn syntax.”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “A Road to Lisp: Which Lisp” “easy to use and uniquely customizable”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Summer Rhombus picture competition 2026” Promising first impressions and tooling
“Rhombus looks promising in terms of tooling.”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available” “It looks like a fun language in any case.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus version 1.0 is now available” “Rhombus looks really nice at first glance”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available” - Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rough edges and unfinished feel
“there are still a few rough corners to fix”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus version 1.0 is now available” “I can only attest to the jank.”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Rhombus 1.1 is now available” Significant whitespace causes tab problems
“It‘s a source of problems with mismatched tabs/spaces being used for indentation between team members for fairly little upside.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus v1.0” “Adding significant whitespace to a new language feels like a bad choice.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus v1.0” Documentation hard to follow for macros
“The page does get around to making it clear that there is a huge focus on macros, which is something, but it takes a while to get there.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus version 1.0 is now available” “has nobody ever read the documentation through slowly, before publishing?”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “Rhombus version 1.0 is now available”
Other programming languages people recommend
The four most recommended other 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.
See all 163 programming languages, rankedWhat people said
31 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“maybe you could look into that suggestion”
“Take a look at Racket (or Rhombus if allergic to parens).”
“has macros but uses a Python-like syntax”
“I can only attest to the jank.”
“I'm... not a super fan of rhombus' emphasis on metaprogramming beyond supporting the language itself though.”
“The customizable aspect being an open-compiler API that is accessible to a wide audience.”
“Rhombus looks promising in terms of tooling.”
“Rhombus' syntax is soooo beautiful.”
“Rhombus looks really nice at first glance”
“shows how powerful Racket can be for building programming languages”
“Honestly a unique searchable name is better.”
“I wish they had chosen a more "modern" name for the language.”
“Something I remember struggling with was trying to use racket libraries in Rhombus/Shplait”
“Rhombus is easy to use and uniquely customizable.”
“Uniquely extensible and easy to learn syntax.”
“I like the Python-like indentation syntax of Rhombus”
“If you want the extensibility of Lisp with a readable syntax Rhombus is worth a go”
“Such a nice data structure.”
“Rhombus is the living proof”
“It looks like a fun language in any case.”
“The page does get around to making it clear that there is a huge focus on macros, which is something, but it takes a while to get there.”
“has nobody ever read the documentation through slowly, before publishing?”
“there are still a few rough corners to fix”
“At least here they provide an alternative syntax that does not need significant indentation”
“I guess the answer is not very”
“It‘s a source of problems with mismatched tabs/spaces being used for indentation between team members for fairly little upside.”
“Adding significant whitespace to a new language feels like a bad choice.”
“easy to use and uniquely customizable”
“it's basically an infix, Python-like syntax on top of Racket”
“this sounds like a downgrade.”
“all the power of Racket in a Python-like syntax”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.