# Standard ML

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/standard-ml/

11 people recommended Standard ML in Hacker News comments, 7 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 9 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A clean, formally specified functional language that people praise for its elegant design and long stability. Critics point to a small ecosystem and limited production use.

Summary written by Claude from 26 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 23 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Wonderful, well-designed language overall (4 comments in the sample): "Standard ML is a perfect programming language from the 90s." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49366222)) "SML is otherwise a wonderful language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45848292)) "It has all you dream of and more." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46760245))
- Stable language that rarely changes (2 comments in the sample): "SML is the exact same language it was 30 years ago.  And it will be in 30 years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45787619)) "the more stable (if near-abandoned) pastures of Standard ML" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45784897))
- Influential lineage behind later languages (2 comments in the sample): "Now when there are so many options finally building on top of Standard ML, and Lisp heritage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48263554)) "a long linage of languages since ML/Standard ML" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45846660))

## What people warn about

- Small ecosystem and community (2 comments in the sample): "I really liked it. But there is even less of an ecosystem around it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46028463)) "I wish SML had a community like F#" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46954043))

## Other programming languages people recommend

- [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust/): 1346 recommend, 468 mixed, 715 criticize
- [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language/): 855 recommend, 270 mixed, 513 criticize
- [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python/): 683 recommend, 261 mixed, 719 criticize
- [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig/): 454 recommend, 181 mixed, 358 criticize

## 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, "Standard ML", https://hackerapproved.com/p/standard-ml/ (11 recommend, 7 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

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