Life & fun · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Homebrew 16bit CPU from 74HC logic with C compiler and Unix-like OS
This is a 16bit CPU+Minicomputer from pure 74 series logic. It has user/kernel modes, virtual memory, prioritized IRQ's and DMA. It has a full C compiler and a unix-like OS. It's still in development.
This project is a 16-bit CPU and minicomputer built entirely from 74-series logic chips. It includes user and kernel modes, virtual memory, prioritized interrupts, and DMA support. The system comes with a C compiler… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Homebrew 16bit CPU from 74HC logic with C compiler and Unix-like OS launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
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 →
- 2
A digital logic simulation written in C. Contribute to rzscheck/logic development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 3
2016 · youtube.com · its alternatives →
- 4
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 →
- 5
Github: https://github.com/errorcodezero/turbine
2025 · errorcodezero.dev · its alternatives →
- 6
Yet Another Forth Core... Contribute to inforichland/yafc development by creating an account on GitHub.
2014 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 7
The core question: how did HP's scientific calculators actually work at the gate level? That rabbit hole led to building one from scratch. The architectural decision everything else follows from: a decimal calculator should store numbers as BCD — one decimal digit per 4-bit nibble. A standard byte-oriented CPU (Z80, 6502) fights that layout constantly. So I designed a small custom CPU in Verilog where 4 bits is the natural data width and memory is nibble addressable. What the project covers: - Custom CPU: Harvard architecture, 12-bit ISA, 8-state execution FSM, hardware stack guard with a…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 8
A complete compiler for a simple language (in less than 150 LoC) - 00_readme.md
2022 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →
- 9IM
Building a 10BASE-T Ethernet transceiver (receiver and transmitter) with discrete logic chips
2024 · qdiv.dev · its alternatives →
- 10
A bit-serial CPU written in VHDL, with a simulator written in C. - howerj/bit-serial
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11
H2 Forth CPU▲120A Forth CPU and System on a Chip, based on the J1, written in VHDL - howerj/forth-cpu
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
"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 →
- 13
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 →
- 14
Tiny assembler for 8086/8088, able to run over DOS for 8086/8088 machines. - nanochess/tinyasm
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15
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 →
- 16
Minimalist, dependency-free virtual machine sandbox for microcontrollers and other resource-constrained devices. Single C file, no dynamic memory allocations, asynchronous design, pure C99 - ringtailsoftware/uvm32
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
Repo: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/xcc700 Hi Everyone! I just wrote my first compiler! - single pass, recursive descent, direct emission - generates REL ELF binaries, runnable using ESP-IDF elf_loader - very basic features only, just enough for self-hosting - treats the Xtensa CPU as a stack machine for simplicity, no register allocation / window usage - compilable on Mac, probably also Linux, can cross-compile for esp32 there - wrote for fun / cyberdeck project Sample output from esp32: xcc700.elf xcc700.c -o /d/cc.elf [ xcc700 ] BUILD COMPLETED >…
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18
32-bit RISC-V CPU in ~800 lines of C89. Contribute to mnurzia/rv development by creating an account on GitHub.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19
A minimal stack-based VM. Contribute to codr7/liblg development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 20
Go compiler for small places. Microcontrollers, WebAssembly (WASM/WASI), and command-line tools. Based on LLVM. - tinygo-org/tinygo
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 21
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 →
- 22
Build your own high performance LLM inference engine in C++ and CUDA - a smaller version of vLLM - jmaczan/tiny-vllm
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23
A Simple Unix-like operating system. Contribute to ozkl/soso development by creating an account on GitHub.
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
simple virtual machine and assembler. Contribute to ronsoros/rvm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2016 · github.com · 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 →