Work · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to A toy bootloader written in C++

Yes, this includes the MBR and partition boot sector. The partition table is modeled as a class hierarchy. Second stage loads a kernel from a FAT32 file. I'm normally a C programmer, but for a work project, I recently revisited C++, a language that I had an on-again-off-again relationship over the years. I did this as a fun training exercise on the side to get familiar with the language again, but obsessed a bit and kind of overshot the target. I thought the result might be of interest to someone.

This is a bootloader implementation written in C++ that includes the master boot record, partition boot sector, and a second stage that loads kernels from FAT32 filesystems. The partition table is structured using a… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. A toy bootloader written in C++ launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1
My microkernel-based OS built from scratch now has basic Unix commands▲69
This project contains no code from Linux, BSD, Minix, or any other OS. Everything up until this point is written entirely from scratch, including a pure microkernel (that only implements multiprocessor priority scheduling, memory management, and interprocess communication), a work-in-progress implementation of the standard C library, and a variety of servers that provide drivers and other essential OS functionality. At the time of writing this post, the servers provide drivers for the keyboard, NVMe SSDs (that works on real hardware), a Unix-like virtual file system (with a single root…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
2
Convert your Containerfile to a bootable OS▲219
Support for bootable OS containers (bootc) and generating disk images - podman-desktop/extension-bootc
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
3
Banan-OS, an Unix-like operating system written from scratch▲333
This is my operating system that I've been working for the past 2 years. All of the code is written exclusively by me except from ported software. banan-os has a monolithic kernel targeting x86 (i686) and x86_64 architectures. The project consists of bootloader, kernel and userspace libraries (libc, libGUI, libFont, ...). It also uses my custom C++ standard library partly based on stdc++. Currently I have basic TTY and GUI environment with some of the basic UNIX utilities like cp, ls and stat. I have basic support for USB (keyboard/mouse/storage), disks (NVMe, AHCI), custom…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
4
A new hobby OS from “scratch” in C#▲310
A multitasking monolithic Kernel based x86 targeting Operating System written in C# from scratch aiming for high-level implementation of drivers in managed environment. - amaneureka/AtomOS
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
5
A simple way to write standalone C programs for i386▲147
A simple way to write standalone C programs for i386 - luke8086/boot2c
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
6
1.5kb Microkernel for Ben Eater's 6502 Computer▲230
Micro Kernel / Bootloader for Ben Eater's 6502 Computer - janroesner/sixty5o2
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
7
A Ghidra extension for exporting parts of a program as object files▲304
This Ghidra extension unrelocates machine code through analysis and then synthesizes a working object file from a listing selection. It effectively turns computer programs into Lego bricks, to be torn down into pieces and reused into something new. It supports the COFF and ELF object file formats, for the x86 and MIPS architectures. It has been successfully used on Linux, Windows and PlayStation executables. One user report is on a commercial video game from 2009 with a ~7 MiB Windows executable written in C++: it was delinked without its C runtime library and then relinked into a new…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
8
A small virtual machine written in C▲212
"interesting" VM in C. Let's see how this goes. Contribute to tekknolagi/carp development by creating an account on GitHub.
2014 · github.com · its alternatives →
9
A DOS-like hobby OS written in Rust and x86 assembly▲207
To try it out, simply build the project yourself from source, or use attached bootable ISO image of the system (in Releases on Github) and run it in QEMU. https://blog.vxn.dev/rou2exos-rusted-edition
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
10
A hash array-mapped trie implementation in C▲171
Long-simmering side project that is finally ready to see the light. HAMTs are a cool persistent data structure and implementing one has been a lot of fun. Beyond the code, there is likely some value in the extensive and largely complete implementation docs; basic benchmarks are linked in the README, too. Kind of aiming to be "the libavl for HAMTs". That is obviously a high and aspirational bar but a distinct possibility if it stirs up a little interest and/or contribution. Anyways, it's time for this to go out, collect feedback and maybe even some use outside of toy projects. Let me…
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
11
Bake – A modular build system and package manager for C/C++▲132
Bake, A build system for building, testing and running C & C++ projects - SanderMertens/bake
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
12
MyraOS – My 32-bit operating system in C and ASM (Hack Club project)▲247
Hi HN, I’m Dvir, a young developer. Last year, I got rejected after a job interview because I lacked some CPU knowledge. After that, I decided to deepen my understanding in the low level world and learn how things work under the hood. I decided to try and create an OS in C and ASM as a way to broaden my knowledge in this area. This took me on the most interesting ride, where I’ve learned about OS theory and low level programming on a whole new level. I’ve spent hours upon hours, blood and tears, reading different OS theory blogs, learning low level concepts, debugging, testing and working on…
Oct 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
13
On-disk B+ tree for Python 3▲159
An on-disk B+tree for Python 3. Contribute to NicolasLM/bplustree development by creating an account on GitHub.
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
14
Bit Serial CPU▲99
A bit-serial CPU written in VHDL, with a simulator written in C. - howerj/bit-serial
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
15
OSle – A 510 bytes OS in x86 assembly▲160
(sorry about double posting, I forgot to put Show HN in front in the original https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43863689 thread) Hey all, As a follow up to my relatively successful series in x86 Assembly of last year[1], I started making an OS that fits in a boot sector. I am purposefully not doing chain loading or multi-stage to see how much I can squeeze out of 510bytes. It comes with a file system, a shell, and a simple process management. Enough to write non-trivial guest applications, like a text editor and even some games. It's a lot of fun! It comes with an SDK and…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
16
Brisk – Cross-Platform C++ GUI Framework: Declarative, Reactive, Fast▲84
Brisk is an open-source C++ GUI framework with a declarative approach, offering powerful data bindings, GPU-accelerated graphics, and dynamic widget management. It supports macOS, Linux, Windows, and simplifies UI creation with modern paradigms and CSS-like layouts. Initially developed for a graphics-intensive project with a complex and dynamic GUI, the framework is currently under active development.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
17
Very basic Unix-like operating system built when I was younger▲150
(Very) basic UNIX-like operating system built when I was younger - SamyPesse/devos
2013 · github.com · its alternatives →
18
Bolt – A super-fast, statically-typed scripting language written in C▲261
I've built many interpreters over the years, and Bolt represents my attempt at building the scripting language I always wanted. This is the first public release, 0.1.0! I've felt like most embedded languages have been moving towards safety and typing over years, with things like Python type hints, the explosive popularity of typescript, and even typing in Luau, which powers one of the largest scripted evironments in the world. Bolt attempts to harness this directly in the lagnauge rather than as a preprocessing step, and reap benefits in terms of both safety and performance. I intend to be…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
19
We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students▲108
Hi! me and my friends together built an 8 bit CPU implemented in Logisim purely from scratch. The control unit of this system does not implement the generic microcode ROM or any kind of RAM. This was made purely from discrete logic gates and coded the system to run different programs. key features: Custom 16-instruction Harvard ISA, 8-bit fixed format, 4 general purpose registers Hardwired control unit built entirely from AND/OR gate logic matrix Dual-phase clocking to eliminate race conditions Bootstrap Control Unit that cold-boots via ROM-to-RAM transfer Early-exit conditional…
Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
20GI
Going into freshman year, figured I should build an interpreter▲138
Hi all! I'm going into my freshman year, and figured that the best way to prepare for the intro to programming Racket course would be to implement my own garbage-collected, dynamically typed, functional programming language in C ;) Anyways... here's the repo: https://github.com/liam-ilan/crumb I started learning C over the summer, so I still have a whole lot to learn... Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :D
2023 · its alternatives →
21
I'm making a dynamic language in Rust▲184
An implementation of a dynamic programming language in Rust. Includes: Parser/Compiler, REPL, Virtual Machine, Bytecode Disassembler This started out as a learning project to teach myself Rust. It has grown into a decently substantial piece of software and I've learned quite a bit in the process! Some neat things: + A garbage collector that can store dynamically sized types without any double-indirection (i.e. I have my own Box implementation with manual alloc/dealloc) + The smart pointer used to reference GCed data is a thin pointer. The ptr metadata needed for DSTs is stored in…
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
22
PlanckForth – Bootstrapping an interpreter from handwritten 1kb binary▲132
Bootstrapping a Forth interpreter from hand-written tiny ELF binary. Just for fun. - GitHub - nineties/planckforth: Bootstrapping a Forth interpreter from hand-written tiny ELF binary. Just for fun.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
23
CXXStateTree – A modern C++ library for hierarchical state machines▲48
Hi HN! I've built [CXXStateTree](https://github.com/ZigRazor/CXXStateTree), a modern C++ header-only library to create hierarchical state machines with clean, intuitive APIs. It supports: - Deeply nested states - Entry/exit handlers - State transitions with guards and actions - Asynchronous transitions with `co_await` (C++20 coroutines) - Optional runtime type identification for flexibility It's ideal for complex control logic, embedded systems, games, robotics, and anywhere you'd use a finite state machine. I’d love feedback, use cases, or contributions from the…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
24MP
My platforming game written in C 89▲127
I have been working on this game somewhat sparsely for the past three years or so. However, it is still in a very early stage, and there is a lot of work to do. One of my friends encouraged me to post about it here, since he felt people might find interesting how I don’t use any libraries for it. The game can be played on a browser by virtue of WebAssembly. There are native ports using either MiniFB or SDL2, but you have to build those yourself. I decided to write the game in C because I feel like it is a simple language that a lot of people can understand well enough, and I didn’t think I…
2023 · zamfofex.neocities.org · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →