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A systems language with runtime reflection and no GC

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Hi HN,I’ve been working on an experimental programming language called XXML. The project started from a frustration I kept running into across systems languages:Languages with strong ownership tend to avoid runtime reflection.Languages with rich reflection usually rely on GC or give up memory guarantees.Compile-time code generation often requires a separate macro language.I wanted to explore whether those tradeoffs are truly necessary.What XXML is trying to doXXML is a statically-typed, native language that:Uses explicit ownership and borrowing (no garbage collector)Supports runtime reflection while respecting ownership rulesAllows compile-time code generation using normal language constructs, not macrosCompiles to LLVM IR and produces native binariesReflection APIs are constrained so unsafe ownership operations are rejected at compile time. The goal isn’t “dynamic at all costs,” but introspection without losing safety.What it’s useful for (so far)Some concrete use cases I’m exploring:Safe plugin/mod systems for native applicationsAuto-generated serialization (e.g., JSON/RPC) without macrosDebugging and inspection tools that can reason about user typesDeclarative domains (UI/layout/asset graphs) that benefit from structured syntaxWhat it’s notThis is early-stage and definitely not production-ready:The ecosystem is minimalThe language is still evolvingDocumentation and tooling are incompleteI’m mostly interested in feedback from people who’ve worked on:compilerslanguage runtimessystems with heavy serialization or plugin boundariesCodeGitHub repo: https://github.com/ThatSoulyGuy/XXMLCompiler or https://xxml-language.comI’d especially appreciate criticism around:the ownership modelreflection safety boundarieswhere this design is fundamentally flawedThanks for reading — happy to answer questions.

HN · launched Dec 15, 2025 · 6 upvotes (top 73%) · 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 ↗

Could you build this?

No Creating a new systems-level compiled programming language with an LLVM backend, custom ownership semantics, and a non-GC runtime reflection system is a massive undertaking requiring expert compiler engineers.

What it would actually take: This project requires advanced compiler engineering expertise in C++, Rust, or LLVM. The architecture demands a custom lexer, parser, type checker, borrow/ownership analyzer similar to Rust's MIR borrow checker, RTTI metadata emitter that avoids GC overhead, and an LLVM IR generation pipeline, alongside an entire standard runtime library.

Discussion

1 comment analyzed.

Concerns raised: Memory safety - use-after-free vulnerabilities, Out-of-bounds memory access

Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 338 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #282 of 339 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 44 days after the earliest competitor.

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