mini-systems is a collection of small, focused implementations of foundational software systems.
Each project recreates a well-known concept - a language interpreter, a version control system, a shell, a compression algorithm - with the goal of understanding how it works from first principles. The emphasis is on clarity, minimalism, and learning by doing rather than completeness or production-readiness.
Most projects are written in Go and are intentionally scoped to remain readable and self-contained.
| Project | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| mini-lang | A small interpreted programming language, built to explore parsing, evaluation, and language design | Building |
| mini-git | A minimal implementation of Git's core data model (objects, trees, commits) | Planned |
| mini-bash | A tiny Unix shell supporting command execution, pipes, and redirection | Planned |
| mini-zip | A simple compression tool implementing classic compression algorithms | Planned |
| mini-terminal | A minimal terminal emulator exploring PTYs, ANSI escape sequences, and screen buffers | Planned |
Each project lives in its own directory and is intentionally scoped to remain readable and focused.
This repository is not about production-ready tools.
It is about:
- learning through implementation rather than theory alone
- understanding core ideas deeply
- recreating systems without relying on heavy abstractions
- using minimal dependencies and standard libraries when possible
- building from scratch with minimal AI assistance to maximize learning
- making trade-offs explicit
Many features are deliberately omitted if they don’t serve the learning goal.
This repository is a living collection. Projects may be incomplete, experimental, or evolve over time as understanding deepens.
Feedback and discussion are welcome.