Writing an Interpreter in Go
Writing an Interpreter in Go by Thorsten Ballby Thorsten Ball
Shares rank 59 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Recommended as a hands-on, approachable guide to building interpreters, with a follow-up on virtual machines. No recurring criticism appears in the quotes.
Recommended as a hands-on, approachable guide to building interpreters, with a follow-up on virtual machines. No recurring criticism appears in the quotes.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 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.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good addition to compiler literature
“"Writing an Interpreter in Go" (and it's followup about writing a virtual machine) is a good addition”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Ask HN: Best books on building a programming language” Liked its hands-on approach
“I worked through "Writing an Interpreter in Go" and I liked the approach.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Practical Compiler Construction – Nils M Holm” Praised as among the best on the subject
“Absolutely best books I've ever read on the subject.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Practical Compiler Construction – Nils M Holm”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Writing an Interpreter in Goby Thorsten BallThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I worked through "Writing an Interpreter in Go" and I liked the approach.”
“Absolutely best books I've ever read on the subject.”
“"Writing an Interpreter in Go" (and it's followup about writing a virtual machine) is a good addition”
“There is a good body of literature that is distinct from the academic compiler literature.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.