OS Development Basics
Start from absolute zero, no operating system at all, and build up to code that boots and runs.
What you'll actually learn
This track starts from genuinely nothing — no operating system, no libraries, not even a working keyboard — and builds up from there: a bootloader that gets the CPU into a state where real code can run, the first lines of your own kernel, and the primitives an OS needs before it can do anything a user would recognize. Every abstraction you've taken for granted in every other track gets built here, once, by hand.
What you'll be able to do
You'll take code you wrote yourself from boot to a running, minimal kernel, debugging the specific class of failures that only exist at this level — a triple fault, a misconfigured GDT, a boot sector that's one byte off — with none of the safety nets a normal application gets. That's a genuinely rare, deep form of competence, and it changes how every other OS you use afterward stops looking like magic.
Syllabus
Frequently asked
Roughly 1 hour across 6 hands-on quests — you can go at your own pace and pick up exactly where you left off.
You should be comfortable with C, Kernel Internals first — the skill tree unlocks OS Development Basics once you've cleared those.
Yes — OS Development Basics is fully available on the free tier, starting with a free first quest and no payment method required to sign up. Plus and Elite remove pacing limits but don't gate any of the OS Development Basics curriculum behind a paywall.
Create a free account and begin your first quest — no card required.
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