OtterLang
Pythonic scripting language that compiles to native code
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Hey HN! I’ve been building OtterLang, a small experimental scripting language designed to feel like Python but compile down to native binaries through LLVM.The goal isn’t to reinvent Python or Rust, but to find a middle ground between them:Python-like readability and syntax Rust-level performance and type safety Fast builds and transparent Rust FFI (you can directly import Rust crates without writing bindings)OtterLang is still early and very experimental. the compiler, runtime, and FFI bridge are being rewritten frequently.Please star the repo, and contribute to help this project.
HN · launched Nov 8, 2025 · 15 upvotes (top 39%) · 0 views
Niche: programming languages and interpreters · 161 launches, 2 in the last 7 days ▼ -75% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Dev tools
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 161 launches in programming languages and interpreters →
Could you build this?
No Designing a compiler that emits native code via LLVM requires specialized knowledge of compiler design, ASTs, type systems, and the LLVM infrastructure.
What it would actually take: Requires implementing a lexer, parser, type inference engine, and AST-to-LLVM-IR generation pipeline using LLVM C++ or Rust bindings, along with a custom runtime library. Building this requires deep expertise in formal language theory, LLVM internals, optimization passes, and memory management.
Discussion
9 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Nim, Go, Python, Codon, SPy
Concerns raised: API design inconsistency (fmt package for stdout instead of io), Unclear how user-defined type conversions are supported, String concatenation and formatting API is cumbersome, Use case unclear (why create this vs existing languages?)
Feature requests: Template strings with compile-time interpolation (like Python PEP 750), String formatting that supports type-safe SQL query generation, Support for user-defined type conversion protocols
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 242 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #101 of 243 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 7 days after the earliest competitor.
- Sere Language · ph · 2026-09-14 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- Fuse · hn · 2026-08-02 · 121 upvotes · similarity 0.50
- Genotype: language that compiles to idiomatic TS, Rust and Python · hn · 2026-09-08 · 9 upvotes · similarity 0.50
- Ironwall, a safety-first native programming language and compiler · hn · 2026-06-06 · 16 upvotes · similarity 0.48
- Full Python 3.15 Implemented in 25k LoC C11 · hn · 2026-10-28 · 9 upvotes · similarity 0.48
- Copy-and-patch compiler for hard real-time Python · hn · 2026-02-11 · 65 upvotes · similarity 0.48
- Myjs An accidental pure-Python JavaScript interpreter · hn · 2026-09-05 · 7 upvotes · similarity 0.46
- Scrollcase · ph · 2026-09-16 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.46
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