{"slug": "show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller", "title": "Show HN: A Ruby IDE running on a microcontroller", "summary": "Developer engneer-hamachan released AREA512, an IDE that runs entirely on the M5Stack Cardputer microcontroller, allowing users to write, compile, and run Ruby code on the device. The IDE features a Vim-like editor with syntax highlighting, auto-indentation, code completion, and type checking, powered by picoruby-ti, a portable type inference engine. The project aims to revive the 1980s home computer culture where the computer used is also the computer programmed.", "body_md": "I built AREA512, software that lets you write, compile, and run Ruby code entirely on the M5Stack Cardputer.\n\n[https://github.com/engneer-hamachan/area512](https://github.com/engneer-hamachan/area512)\n\nOne part I put a lot of effort into is the on-device IDE.\n\nIt has a Vim-like editor with:\n\n- Syntax highlighting - Auto-indentation - Code completion - Type checking\n\nThe code completion and type checking aren't implemented using a simple dictionary or predefined list of symbols.\n\nInstead, they're powered by picoruby-ti, a type inference engine I developed separately with the goal of making it portable enough to run on PCs, microcontrollers, and web browsers:\n\n[https://github.com/engneer-hamachan/picoruby-ti](https://github.com/engneer-hamachan/picoruby-ti)\n\nI haven't seen many IDEs this feature-rich running entirely on a microcontroller.\n\nOne of my goals with this project is to preserve some of the spirit of 1980s home computer culture — when the computer you used was also the computer you programmed.\n\nI'd love to hear your feedback, especially if you have ideas for features that would be fun or interesting to add.\n\nThanks for reading!\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399476](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399476)\n\nPoints: 2\n\n# Comments: 0", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/engneer-hamachan/area512", "published_at": "2026-08-22 13:18:22+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-22 13:43:46.544156+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "artificial-intelligence", "machine-learning"], "entities": ["AREA512", "M5Stack Cardputer", "picoruby-ti", "engneer-hamachan", "Ruby"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-a-ruby-ide-running-on-a-microcontroller.jsonld"}}