# Simulink

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/simulink/

10 people recommended Simulink in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend Simulink for visual block-diagram modeling, simulation and auto-generated embedded C code. The most common caveat is that building nontrivial logic in it is unpleasant.

Summary written by Claude from 17 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 15 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Visual data flow and model presentation (2 comments in the sample): "control engineer can just take a quick look at screenshot of a Simulink model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160640)) "Having the visual presentation of data flow is quite nice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49113183))
- Rapid prototyping and proof of concepts (2 comments in the sample): "Codegen from Matlab/Simulink/whatever is good for proof of concept design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189468)) "great for Rapid Prototyping" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280030))
- Code generation for embedded systems (1 comment in the sample): "Modern autogenerated C code from Simulink is rather effective." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184323))
- Used in cars and rockets (1 comment in the sample): "Rockets have flown to orbit on auto coded simulink, seen it myself" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46185898))

## What people warn about

- Messy, sprawling diagrams (2 comments in the sample): "those documents are just page after page of Matlab Simulink-like schemas." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48721422)) "simulink generates spaghetti" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184872))
- Visual-only interface is cumbersome (2 comments in the sample): "Simulink is a pain to use and has been wrangled into shape for lack of better options" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48016738)) "Simulink needs a text-based interface" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48598291))

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.mathworks.com/products/simulink.html)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Simulink", https://hackerapproved.com/p/simulink/ (10 recommend, 1 mixed, 5 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.