I wrote a minimal deep learning library from scratch in Python

In plain words

This is a Python deep learning library built from scratch with a focus on minimalism. Designed for developers and machine learning practitioners who want to understand or work with core deep learning concepts, it provides essential functionality without unnecessary complexity. The library prioritizes simplicity and clarity, making it suitable for educational purposes or as a lightweight alternative to larger frameworks.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

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  Thinc, a new deep learning library by the makers of spaCy and FastAPI2020 · thinc.ai · ▲250

  Thinc is a lightweight type-checked deep learning library for composing models, with support for layers defined in frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow.

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  TensorFlow 1.02017 · tensorflow.org · ▲823

  Open-source machine learning library by Google

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  I built a deep learning engine from scratch in Python2025 · github.com · ▲30

  I’ve spent the last few months building a deep learning engine completely from scratch in Python (using only math and random). What started as a basic linear algebra calculator project grew into a symbolic tensor system with autodiff, custom matrix ops, attention mechanisms, LayerNorm, GELU, and even a text generation demo trained on the Brown corpus. I'm still an undergrad, so my main goal is to deeply understand how deep learning actually works under the hood - gradients, attention, backpropagation, optimizers - by building it step-by-step with full visibility into everything, and without…

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  TinyGPT – A Simple, Educational Deep Learning Library2024 · github.com · ▲13

  A tiny version of GPT fully implemented in Python with zero dependencies - isaacperez/tinygpt

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  DeepFace – A lightweight deep face recognition library for Python2025 · github.com · ▲257

  DeepFace is a leading open-source library for facial recognition and facial attribute analysis, and the de facto standard in Python. It wraps multiple state-of-the-art models that have reached — and even surpassed — human-level accuracy in recognizing faces. By the numbers (as of early 2025): 15,000+ stars on GitHub; ~4 million installations via pip; 800+ citations in academic papers Whether you're building a cutting-edge AI project or simply exploring facial recognition, DeepFace makes advanced capabilities accessible with just a few lines of code.

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  I built a tensor library from scratch in C++/CUDA2025 · github.com · ▲119

  Hi HN, Over the past few months, I've been building `dsc`, a tensor library from scratch in C++/CUDA. My main focus has been on getting the basics right, prioritizing a clean API, simplicity, and clear observability for running small LLMs locally. The key features are: - C++ core with CUDA support written from scratch. - A familiar, PyTorch-like Python API. - Runs real models: it's complete enough to load a model like Qwen from HuggingFace and run inference on both CUDA and CPU with a single line change[1]. - Simple, built-in observability for both Python and C++. Next on the roadmap is…

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  /dev/null▲489

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 3d ago · dev-null.sh

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  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 28d ago · github.com

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  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 26d ago · github.com

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  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 23d ago · openbot.run

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  Talanoa▲346

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 21d ago · talanoa.email

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  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 28d ago · corespeed.io

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  Ghost 4.0▲1,100

  Newsletters, memberships, subscriptions - all in one place

  Dev tools · 2021 · ghost.org

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  I wrote a book about Go▲919

  Life & fun · 2021 · practical-go-lessons.com

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  OpenVC▲903

  2,200+ VC firms by thesis. Radically free and open. 🚀

  Dev tools · 2021 · openvc.app

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  First 1000▲652

  Case studies on how companies got their first 1000 customers

  Growth · 2021 · first1000.co

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  Svelte NodeGUI, a lightweight Electron alternative with native UI▲624

  Build performant, native and cross-platform desktop applications with native Svelte + powerful CSS-like styling.🚀 - nodegui/svelte-nodegui

  Life & fun · 2021 · github.com

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  Video Game in a Font▲605

  Life & fun · 2021 · coderelay.io