Wat by Gary Bernhardt
Ranked 4 of 13 conference talks by recommenders
A short, funny talk poking fun at JavaScript quirks, still a favorite years later. Critics say a few of its points are mistaken.
8 people recommended Wat by Gary Bernhardt in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
5 of the 8 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “The Birth and Death of JavaScript (2014)”.
Summary written by Claude from 8 comments.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 1
The record
Recommended in 4 of 12 months
In 4 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 4 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 5 of its 8 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 8 of the 10 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Funny and still entertaining years later
“It's a funny video, still after 15 years of seeing it, I'll give you that.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Anthropic has made a large contribution to the Python Software Foundation” “Archaic maybe, but still brings a smile”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “PHP's Oddities” Short and a longtime favorite
“best 5 minutes of your day guaranteed”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “The Birth and Death of JavaScript (2014)” “was my favorite of all time”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “The Birth and Death of JavaScript (2014)”
Other conference talks people recommend
The four most recommended other conference talks, 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 | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Made Easy by Rich Hickey | 22 | 0 | 1 | 96% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary Bernhardt | 11 | 0 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures | 11 | 0 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| Wat by Gary BernhardtThis page | 8 | 1 | 1 | 89% | 4 | — | — |
| Hammock Driven Development by Rich Hickey | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 10 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which is kind of famous for poking fun at JavaScript”
“was my favorite of all time”
“There are a few mistakes in this talk; I'll list just two that I noticed.”
“That's actually fantastic.”
“best 5 minutes of your day guaranteed”
“Archaic maybe, but still brings a smile”
“I think it is one of the reason WAT, the textual format is so neat”
“It's a funny video, still after 15 years of seeing it, I'll give you that.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.