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Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

easel.hackclub.com

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Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#1

Post by jianmin-chen »

Hey! I’m JC. I’m 17 and part of Hack Club, a nonprofit where we help teenagers ship programming projects with their friends while growing technically.

A while ago, I asked myself the question, “How exactly do programming languages work behind the scenes?” It seemed really daunting until I went to a half hour workshop at a high school hackathon about writing a tree-walk interpreter and realized that getting started was actually super fun.

This guide is designed in the vein of that - to get people, especially teenagers, started on learning how to build a programming language in a literal weekend by actually shipping one. It’s a stepping stone for learning the big things - compilers, optimizations for performance, etc. It’s very inspired by Crafting Interpreters and why’s poignant guide, but meant to be approachable in a weekend.

Some backstory on me: A year ago I finished high school early and joined Hack Club full-time to build projects like this. I’ve been programming since COVID, and learned how to code primarily by shipping things that seemed daunting to me and taking inspiration from people taking the time to break down various topics online.

Give it a try and take it out for a spin! Constructive feedback is also really appreciated.

It’s open source on GitHub at https://github.com/hackclub/easel

Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language
easel.hackclub.com

Re: Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#3

Post by smith7018 »

dang wrote: post #58

[stub for offtopicness]

Totally unrelated to the content of your post but labeling posts with "I'm [a teenager] and X" has always irked me. It either serves to undermine the content (older people immediately questioning the authority of a teenager) or people respond with meaningless praise ("Wow, great job! I was playing video games when I was your age!"). It also harkens back to the 2000s and 2010s when the industry was obsessed with "teenage savants" for some reason. So much money was wasted by being thrown at teens due to tech's obsession with youth and the errant belief in its ability to drive innovation.

Your post could have been titled "Show HN: I wrote a guide to help teens learn how to build their own programming language." I dunno, maybe I just need my coffee and I'm being grouchy

Re: Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#4

Post by stephencoyner »

smith7018 wrote: post #3
dang wrote: post #58

[stub for offtopicness]

Totally unrelated to the content of your post but labeling posts with "I'm [a teenager] and X" has always irked me. It either serves to undermine the content (older people immediately questioning the authority of a teenager) or people respond with meaningless praise ("Wow, great job! I was playing video games when I was your age!"). It also harkens back to the 2000s and 2010s when the industry was obsessed with "teen…

There’s been a concerning trend of less and less young, successful founders. Where is the modern Zuck, Gates or Patrick Collison?

I say good on OP for putting themselves out there and keep pushing. We need young people to come up with great ideas and if that comes with them pointing out how young they are, I’m totally fine with it.

Re: Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#7

Post by dang »

smith7018 wrote: post #3
dang wrote: post #58

[stub for offtopicness]

Totally unrelated to the content of your post but labeling posts with "I'm [a teenager] and X" has always irked me. It either serves to undermine the content (older people immediately questioning the authority of a teenager) or people respond with meaningless praise ("Wow, great job! I was playing video games when I was your age!"). It also harkens back to the 2000s and 2010s when the industry was obsessed with "teen…

This comes up every time someone posts like this, and it's not really very helpful.

Re: Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#9

Post by lizardking »

smith7018 wrote: post #3
dang wrote: post #58

[stub for offtopicness]

Totally unrelated to the content of your post but labeling posts with "I'm [a teenager] and X" has always irked me. It either serves to undermine the content (older people immediately questioning the authority of a teenager) or people respond with meaningless praise ("Wow, great job! I was playing video games when I was your age!"). It also harkens back to the 2000s and 2010s when the industry was obsessed with "teen…

Andy Rooney, is that you?

Re: Show HN: I'm 17 and wrote a guide on how to build your own programming language

#10

Post by ramon156 »

smith7018 wrote: post #3
dang wrote: post #58

[stub for offtopicness]

Totally unrelated to the content of your post but labeling posts with "I'm [a teenager] and X" has always irked me. It either serves to undermine the content (older people immediately questioning the authority of a teenager) or people respond with meaningless praise ("Wow, great job! I was playing video games when I was your age!"). It also harkens back to the 2000s and 2010s when the industry was obsessed with "teen…

While I want to agree, your comment just sounds salty
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