mahler.c
Languages and libraries
music theory library
SHOW HN2026
57points
18comments
#1,112of 4,366 in 2026
Top 26%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical
2 positive, 2 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 4 critical, out of 8 comments about the project. Thread score -0.04.
Idea: 1 for, 2 againstDesign: 0 for, 1 againstExecution: 1 for, 0 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
Good test coverage
From 1 comment
Love the point of 100% test coverage.
saivishwak on HN
Objections
No clear use case for the library
From 2 comments
So you can generate the d dorian scale and it outputs d e f g a b c d? Whats the target audience? A good musician knows the scales by heart (and also how they sound/feel) and for…
randomNumber7 on HNThe question is: what is the use case? If you don't have a practical use case, the probability that there is one AND that it will use your library (instead of building its own,…
Juliate on HN
Target audience unclear
From 1 comment
So you can generate the d dorian scale and it outputs d e f g a b c d? Whats the target audience? A good musician knows the scales by heart (and also how they sound/feel) and for…
randomNumber7 on HN
Requests
Use designated initializer syntax in examples
From 1 comment
Nitpicking: https://github.com/thelowsunoverthemoon/mahler.c/blob/4ebfe8b5704eb1b546a6e8e3dd1748d7e279a880/src/note/note.h#L31 Should that type have been mah_acci instead of int?…
ceteia on HN
Questions
Why C99 rather than C23
From 1 comment
As someone who only has used C in conjunction with Rust... Given that it is 2026, what are some of the thoughts that go into choosing C99 vs C23, which I presume has more…
OptionOfT on HN
What is the purpose and use case
From 1 comment
What is the purpose of this and how would I use it (as someone who actually knows a lot about music theory and C programming)?
randomNumber7 on HN