Developer tools and infrastructure
Hobby languages and operating systems
From-scratch programming languages, interpreters, compilers, hobby OS kernels, emulators and other low-level systems experiments built mainly for learning and tinkering.
Built for: Language, OS and retro-computing hobbyists
Projects since May 04
90
Different builders
86
Last 4 weeks vs 8 before
▼ -23%
AI is the core
7.8%
Projects per week
Mostly developer tool or library (66%), web app (13%), other (7.8%) · from r/SideProject, r/vibecoding, r/IMadeThis, r/SaaS
Latest
- Mah — Compiles a custom programming language to portable bytecode and runs it on a virtual machine, with a type checker, formatter and editor support.“I spent way too long building my own programming language”
- toyvm — Emulates the Little Computer 3 (LC-3) virtual machine, including a disassembler for inspecting object files.“Built a LC3 VM in Golang!”
- arm64js — Emulates an ARMv8-A machine in a browser tab so real Linux, shells and TUI apps run without installation.“Arm64js - ARMv8-A emulator that runs real Linux in a browser tab”
- UNIVERSE — Runs x86-64 Linux and Windows executables built for other platforms on a different CPU architecture by emulating the CPU and parts of the OS interface.“I had the stupid idea of making software ignore what computer it was built for… and now jq, 7-Zip, BusyBox, etc. actually run 🤯”
- Agentic HIL — Lets a coding agent flash firmware to a microcontroller board and run hardware tests over serial, feeding the results back into the session.“Claude Code writing firmware, flashing a real board and checking the result”
- LUC — Provides a lightweight scripting language built on Lua that aims to be easier for beginners to learn.“I made a small beginner-friendly language”
- Flame — Compiles a statically typed, memory-safe scripting language to native code via Rust and LLVM.“I've been building a programming language called Flame for fun and curiously.”
- OpenPhysicsAI — Runs open-source physics simulations scored against sealed experimental measurements, letting contributors submit improved solvers via pull requests.“I built an open-source physics lab where your AI competes against real experiments”
- Zeen — Compiles a systems programming language that uses move semantics to insert drops at compile time.“I made a programming language”
- KeshOS — Provides a from-scratch 64-bit desktop operating system with a custom kernel, window compositor and GUI intended to run on older hardware.“Building an independent 64-bit desktop OS from scratch — KeshOS progress & architecture”
- AiOS — Lets an AI reverse-engineer SNES ROMs by testing hypotheses against emulator runs and storing verified findings as reusable knowledge.“I accidentally taught an AI to reverse-engineer SNES assembly without training the model”
- pythonmastery.io — Runs Python 3.13 in the browser via WebAssembly with no account, server execution, or setup, and includes lessons and quizzes.“I have been working on this online python compiler”
- SafeScript — Compiles a restricted, Turing-incomplete JavaScript subset into a static DAG and computes its host, secret, and data-flow signature before execution.“SafeScript - a Turing-incomplete subset of JavaScript you can prove safe before running”
- Quarkit — Generates small cross-platform desktop installers from a manifest, without custom scripts.“An Installer increased size from 2MB to 10MB, SO I'm building my own one.”
- Ironwood — Compiles a Java-like language with classes, generics and exceptions ahead of time into native executables via LLVM.“I wanted Java-like development with native binaries, so I built Ironwood”
- SealKernel — Provides a simulated shell sandbox in C and C++ for practicing commands before moving to bash.“zilelai - Overview”
- Interprets a custom toy programming language with SET, WHILE, IF, PRINT and INPUT commands, running on Python.“i made my own coding language :D”
- TechScript — Runs programs written in a custom non-brace programming language through a Rust-based lexer, parser, bytecode compiler and VM, with a CLI, REPL and editor tooling.“I've been building a programming language in Rust TechScript 2.0.”
- Ity — Provides a small embeddable scripting language implemented in C++ with built-in I/O, time, file-system and math modules.“Ity: a tiny but powerful scripting language.”
- LanguageLineage — Shows an interactive graph of what programming languages, compilers and runtimes are written in, including how that changed over time.“I wondered what programming languages are actually built with, so I made this”
Most discussed
- Visual HolyC — Adds HolyC language support and agentic AI coding assistance to VS Code for writing TempleOS programs.“Vibecoding now supported on TempleOS with HolyC (through VSCode)”
- Reimplements the Fortress programming language compiler in Rust with LLVM as a backend.“Anyone else do unhinged things with AI”
- OpenWindows — Provides a freestanding C99 and NASM kernel framework with a custom character encoding, text serialization formats, and filesystem and bootloader components.“Vibecoding a clean-slate, non-POSIX operating system ecosystem from scratch (OpenWindows)”
- KeshOS — Provides a from-scratch 64-bit desktop operating system with a custom kernel, window compositor and GUI intended to run on older hardware.“Building an independent 64-bit desktop OS from scratch — KeshOS progress & architecture”
- ce-net — Runs software across a fleet of your own devices in a peer-to-peer mesh, dispatching workloads to multiple sandboxed runtimes.“ce-net: a peer-to-peer device mesh in Rust (libp2p + capabilities + pluggable runtimes)”
- Veilbox — Boots a minimal custom Linux system that presents a login prompt and runs only containers, with containerd, nerdctl and SSH access.“I built a bootable OS from scratch that only runs containers — no package manager, no bloat”
- Interprets a custom toy programming language with SET, WHILE, IF, PRINT and INPUT commands, running on Python.“i made my own coding language :D”
- Ultravibecoding — Provides a programming language, compiler, bare-bones OS, and a WPF terminal host where AI agents coordinate builds through a shared lock.“Ultravibecoding”
- AiOS — Lets an AI reverse-engineer SNES ROMs by testing hypotheses against emulator runs and storing verified findings as reusable knowledge.“I accidentally taught an AI to reverse-engineer SNES assembly without training the model”
- Provides a custom programming language as an alternative to C# for writing Unity game code.“I wanted to make a Unity game but didn't want to write C#, so I vibe coded a whole language instead”