February 2, 2026
Teensy binary, big feelings
G Lang – A lightweight interpreter written in D (2.4MB)
Teen launches tiny language; HN splits over safety, weird syntax, and 'just use Janet'
TLDR: A 17-year-old launched G, a 2.4MB language promising speed and safety, quickly hitting 328+ GitHub clones. Comments split between encouragement and skepticism, with questions about odd syntax and real safety, plus “just use Janet,” turning a tiny project into a big debate.
A 17-year-old just dropped “G,” a new scripting language with a teeny-tiny 2.4MB interpreter written in D (a performance-focused programming language). It promises memory-safe execution and speed on 64-bit computers, with a minimalist standard library. The GitHub repo blew up fast—328+ clones in two days—and the comments instantly turned into a reality show: some cheering the hustle, others poking the code with a microscope.
Fans love the small footprint and the “built by a student” energy. But the loudest chorus? Syntax detectives asking what the mysterious [@]: and [%]: symbols do, plus why the interpreter source “looks machine-generated.” The skeptic brigade rolled in hot: “Do you have anything real to show?” and “Where’s the actual memory safety mechanism?” Meanwhile, a classic Hacker News twist: someone drops “Check out Janet!” and suddenly it’s a showdown between building new vs. using existing tools. Jokes fly about the binary being “smaller than my screenshots,” while others beg for benchmarks and a demo proving safety. The vibe: scrappy teen maker vs. seasoned engineers demanding receipts—with the crowd split between encouragement and “prove it on paper.” It’s tiny language, big drama.
Key Points
- •G is a new scripting language emphasizing a tiny footprint, speed, and memory safety.
- •Its interpreter is fully written in the D programming language.
- •The compiled binary size is approximately 2.4MB.
- •The interpreter is optimized for x86_64 architectures.
- •A minimal standard library is included, featuring components like std.echo and std.newline, and the code is available on GitHub.