SHDL
Ranked 3 of 4 hardware description languages by recommenders
A minimal hardware description language built from logic gates, praised for readable examples and documentation that suit beginners. Critics say it is not very useful for getting real work done.
A minimal hardware description language built from logic gates, praised for readable examples and documentation that suit beginners. Critics say it is not very useful for getting real work done.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not 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
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not very useful for real work
“it's not all that useful for getting stuff done”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: SHDL – A Minimal Hardware Description Language Built from Logic Gates”
Other hardware description languages people recommend
The three most recommended other hardware description 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verilog | 13 | 16 | 45% | 6 | — | — |
| Chisel | 7 | 1 | 88% | 4 | — | — |
| SHDLThis page | 6 | 1 | 86% | 1 | — | — |
| Clash (Haskell-to-HDL compiler) | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I like how SHDL is readable for beginners, the examples are all intuitive and self-explanatory.”
“That's the main reason the generated C code is both simple and fast.”
“The project looks great! I browsed the codebase and enjoyed how much documentation there is”
“it's not all that useful for getting stuff done”
“there's no way to name a signal because a wire isn't a thing”
“Looks cool and can be useful for its stated purpose”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.