# Starlark

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Starlark and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Deterministic, Python-like language for build and config files, designed for untrusted code; critics say it lacks many Python features.

## Why people recommend it

- Deterministic and bounded execution (3 comments): "it intentionally doesn't (in default configuration) support recursion or unbounded loops, so is deterministic and bounded execution time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48028653)) "Bazel uses Starlark, which is pretty much a deterministic subset of Python." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46043212)) "If you need a deterministic programming language, you could use starlark" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46525896))
- Familiar Python-like syntax (3 comments): "This is why Google made Starlark. You can think of it as just enough Python for the exact use case you talked about." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46038977)) "Bazel uses Starlark, which is pretty much a deterministic subset of Python." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46043212)) "it's a python dialect so most llms can use it with little help" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49188204))
- Works well for build macros (2 comments): "When I write Bazel macros, they're great, the perfect tool for the job." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48037231)) "starlark is well suited for this job" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46093188))

## What people warn about

- Missing many Python features (3 comments): "Starlark has been proposed in the past, but unfortunately it means you have to work with something different than Python" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49520423)) "almost-but-not-quite version of python that doesn't support all manner of features you would hope for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49531368)) "beats starlark in that it already has all the features your users (and Claude) know about" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994207))
- Another language to learn (2 comments): "Starlark has been proposed in the past, but unfortunately it means you have to work with something different than Python" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49520423)) "they keep inventing new stuff like Starlark. They need to stop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49201179))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Lua](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lua.md): 186 recommend
- [awk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/awk.md): 67 recommend
- [AutoHotkey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/autohotkey.md): 44 recommend
- [GDScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gdscript.md): 22 recommend
- [AppleScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/applescript.md): 19 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Starlark", https://hackerapproved.com/p/starlark/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).