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Dev tools · March 22, 2026

AC

A C/C++ IDE written in C from scratch with zero dependencies

I’ve spent the last ~2 years building a C/C++ IDE for Windows entirely in C99. My goal was to eliminate the bloat of the modern Visual Studio environment keeping its core features. Key Technical Highlights: Zero Dependencies: Just the Windows API Performance: Starts in 0.1ms on a twelve year old machine. It handles projects with 500k+ lines without UI lag or indexing stutters. Integrated Tools: Includes a custom-built debugger, profiler, and Intellisense engine designed for speed. Portability: It’s a single executable. No installer required. I built this because I was tired of waiting…

In plain words

This is a C/C++ IDE built entirely in C99 for Windows, designed as a lightweight alternative to Visual Studio. It runs as a single portable executable with no external dependencies, starting in milliseconds and handling large projects with thousands of lines of code without lag. The IDE includes an integrated debugger, profiler, and code completion engine optimized for speed. It targets developers who want core IDE features without the resource overhead of conventional development environments.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

I’ve spent the last ~2 years building a C/C++ IDE for Windows entirely in C99. My goal was to eliminate the bloat of the modern Visual Studio environment keeping its core features. Key Technical Highlights: Zero Dependencies: Just the Windows API Performance: Starts in 0.1ms on a twelve year old machine. It handles projects with 500k+ lines without UI lag or indexing stutters. Integrated Tools: Includes a custom-built debugger, profiler, and Intellisense engine designed for speed. Portability: It’s a single executable. No installer required. I built this because I was tired of waiting 10 seconds for Visual Studio to "wake up" and seeing my RAM disappear just to boot it up. It’s currently hosted on itch.io while I gather funds to set up a dedicated site.

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