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Factor: an extensible interactive language

Google TechTalks · talk · Watch on YouTube

Programming language designFunctional programming

What it is

A 2008 Google Tech Talk in which Slava Pestov introduces Factor, a concatenative language influenced by Forth, Lisp and Smalltalk. It covers the interactive environment, metaprogramming, and the language's modern high-level features and libraries.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN recommends it as the best introduction to Factor and concatenative programming, with commenters saying it impressed them with the engineering.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “It absolutely blew my mind.”

    Tech talk on Factor with top-notch engineering

    xelxebar, 2018-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Concatenative language (2017)”

  2. “a contemporary language to python3 that completely blew Python out of the water.”

    Factor demo that blew Python out of the water

    fud101, 2025-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Why did Python fail to evolve?”

  3. “just in case here's a very enjoyable talk, not about, but by Slava”

    Talk by Factor's creator Slava Pestov

    agumonkey, 2014-01 · Recommendation · in “K, by Arthur Whitney (2005)”

  4. “a Google tech talk video of Slava Pestov (Factor's creator) showing off the language here”

    Factor's creator shows off the language

    benhoyt, 2020-01 · Recommendation · in “Factor: A Practical Stack Languge”

  5. “Here is his talk on Factor”

    Slava Pestov's 2008 talk on Factor

    johnisgood, 2025-08 · Recommendation · in “The V Programming Language”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: factor, forth, stack language, metaprogramming, slava pestov

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