# XS programming language 8 Hacker News commenters recommended XS programming language and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Free language with traits, generics, closures, pattern matching and algebraic effects, though critics doubt its provenance and see no clear reason to switch. ## Why people recommend it - Modern features and goal-driven design (3 comments): "XS seems to have quite a few modern niceties, such as traits, generics, closures, OOP, pattern-matching, and even algebraic effects." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48171102)) "language design based on what people want to achieve rather than creating the most generic zoo of primitives is underexplored" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48146408)) "the language itself checks all the important boxes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48172349)) ## What people warn about - Looks AI-generated with no visible author (3 comments): "But I have no interest in some anonymous project that has no provenance and no chance of longevity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48173261)) "All the copy is entirely generated. I can't find any actual human associated with this thing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48170948)) "Then I read the comments here saying its ai slop, I lost all my interest now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48171495)) - No clear reason to switch (4 comments): "You can improve it by giving a reason for people to want to adopt it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48167601)) "I saw no killer feature that would push me from go or python to it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168975)) "Trying to fish out from a multi-page reference what makes your language unique and what gripes with other languages it solves is tedious" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48167317)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust.md): 2039 recommend - [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language.md): 1254 recommend - [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python.md): 1067 recommend - [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig.md): 743 recommend - [TypeScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/typescript.md): 574 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "XS programming language", https://hackerapproved.com/p/xs-programming-language/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).