Darklang
Dev tools
backend programming language
SHOW HN2019
Legend
Darklang
We will absolutely support light mode, and we plan to deal with many other accessibility concerns (I touch…
medium.com#backend language#deployless#serverless#feature flags#low-code backend
How HN took it
30 positive, 35 neutral or asking, 14 mixed, 67 critical, out of 146 comments about the project. Thread score -0.22.
Idea: 15 for, 44 againstDesign: 4 for, 8 againstExecution: 6 for, 3 againstPricing: 0 for, 5 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Ambitious project with interesting ideas
From 1 comment
I applaud the effort for the project because it's really ambitious. The delivery at this point on the other hand makes me a bit skeptical. I've watched the hello world app a few…
tiborsaas on HN
Objections
Proprietary language; reluctance to learn a language owned by a startup
From 3 comments
Is there an open source version of the language? ...bc I'm not touching a programming language with a ten foot pole if it hasn't got at least two implementations, and at least…
nnq on HN> Dark is a holistic programming language No thank you. There's zero chance I'm going to learn and build anything in a language owned by a startup.
thesausageking on HNThey are 'allowing' people into a private beta of a programming language? Coupled with the fact it is not open source and has a bunch of fad ad-tech videos on the front page this…
jamesb93 on HN
Database abstraction may not scale; no joins or transactions
From 1 comment
How confident are you that your database abstraction is going to fulfill the needs of someone with anything more than a few trivial query workloads? I didn't hear much about the…
ryanworl on HN
Lock-in and walled garden concerns
From 2 comments
Who is this for exactly? I don't see how the target can be entirely non-technical people, since this still assumes some knowledge around…
md5person on HNWe have no insight as to what the actual costs of running the infrastructure is. Dark can basically ask for any numbers they want and you'd have to pay it if you build something…
tmikaeld on HN
Security not emphasized on site
From 1 comment
What scares me is that their whole site doesn't mention the word "security" once. Also "testing" is in the FAQ as a "we're working on it"-item.
tnolet on HN
Unclear target audience
From 2 comments
Who is this for exactly? I don't see how the target can be entirely non-technical people, since this still assumes some knowledge around…
md5person on HNI think the fact it maintains the "backend/frontend" separation makes it an awkward product solution imo. Dark being a proprietary language means most "experienced" or…
carlosdp on HN
Requests
Light mode support
From 1 comment
Does (or will) Dark have a light mode? Given the name and seeing the dark mode screenshots in the article, I wonder. This is an honest worry for an older developer like me. When…
Stratoscope on HN
Open source version of the language
From 1 comment
Is there an open source version of the language? ...bc I'm not touching a programming language with a ten foot pole if it hasn't got at least two implementations, and at least…
nnq on HN
Example-based testing and callgraph views
From 1 comment
Great suggestions, you'll be happy to know many of these are on the roadmap, and some have already been done! > Have multiple projectional views of the system, Some amount of…
pbiggar on HN
Questions
Is there an open source version?
From 1 comment
Is there an open source version of the language? ...bc I'm not touching a programming language with a ten foot pole if it hasn't got at least two implementations, and at least…
nnq on HN
What is the pricing structure?
From 1 comment
I got the email, and read through the post, it seems awesome. I remember the original HN post and am excited to see the progress. I have a few random questions. 1. What is the…
andrewnc on HN
How does version management work?
From 1 comment
How does version management work with dark? Do I get access to the "raw text files"?
fernandohur on HN
Does it scale and support joins and transactions?
From 1 comment
How confident are you that your database abstraction is going to fulfill the needs of someone with anything more than a few trivial query workloads? I didn't hear much about the…
ryanworl on HN
Alternatives named
Netlify
From 1 comment
> willing to sacrifice the ecosystem you get from open-source/widely adopted languages/frameworks for a marginal amount of convenience over something like Netlify Obviously, no…
pbiggar on HN
Parse
From 1 comment
I'm recalling the disaster that was the Parse framework. What makes this any different?
harebear on HN
No-code/low-code solutions
From 1 comment
I think the fact it maintains the "backend/frontend" separation makes it an awkward product solution imo. Dark being a proprietary language means most "experienced" or…
carlosdp on HN
Zapier
From 1 comment
Thank you for the kind words! > The one thing that didn't get covered in the "Dark in action" video that should have is where do the twilio/slack tokens get stored? I'm sure…
pbiggar on HN