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TUI from Zero

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TUI from Zero

Instructor: Noah Gift

Included with

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5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

5 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

5 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Build a pure-Rust terminal-UI framework from the cell buffer up, with byte-deterministic snapshot tests in CI.
Apply the Elm-style init/update/view shape and composite layout to build production widgets (CpuGrid, ProcessTable, MemoryBar).
Create ptop-mini end-to-end — a Snapshot-fixture-driven process monitor that swaps to a live /proc reader without changing the view function.

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There are 5 modules in this course

TUI from Zero teaches you to build a pure-Rust terminal-UI framework from first principles to a working ptop-mini process monitor. Across five modules, you'll learn the wire format of a terminal — cells, ANSI escape sequences, Unicode block elements, and Braille code points — and how CellBuffer and DiffRenderer turn those primitives into a zero-allocation steady state. You'll master the Elm-style init/update/view shape, composite layout with Container/Row/Column, the .prs declarative scene format, and probar snapshot testing so every render byte is deterministic in CI.

The capstone is ptop-mini, a Rust process monitor whose production binary swaps a Snapshot fixture for a live /proc reader without changing one line of the view function. Every widget is gated by a YAML contract and a probar snapshot test, so the framework you build is provable, not merely working. You should be comfortable with intermediate Rust — ownership and borrowing, traits and generics, Result and the ? operator. No prior terminal-UI experience is required.

Module details

Build the rendering core of a Rust TUI from first principles. Learn how a terminal is a 2D grid of cells, how double-width Unicode is kept safe, why ANSI escape sequences are the wire format, and how CellBuffer and the Widget trait give you one paint(rect) method that composes everything else.

What's included

6 videos6 readings

6 videosTotal 10 minutes

1.1.1 The Terminal Is A Grid2 minutes
1.1.2 Presentar Cellbuffer2 minutes
1.1.3 Diffrenderer Emits Only Changes2 minutes
1.2.1 The Widget Trait2 minutes
1.2.2 Container Row Column2 minutes
1.2.3 Block And Label1 minute

6 readingsTotal 51 minutes

About This Course10 minutes
Key Terms: The Terminal Is a Grid of Cells10 minutes
ELI5 Pixel Graphics1 minute
Reflection: The Terminal Is a Grid of Cells10 minutes
Key Terms: The Widget Trait — One Method, paint(rect)10 minutes
Reflection: The Widget Trait — One Method, paint(rect)10 minutes

Wire user input to state through the Elm Architecture's three pure functions: init, update, and view. Model the counter app as a struct, define Msg as an exhaustive enum, and run crossterm's poll/read loop with raw mode. Map every KeyEvent through a total dispatch function so update never sees noise, and exit cleanly on Esc, Ctrl-C, or q.

What's included

6 videos4 readings

6 videosTotal 9 minutes

2.1.1 Init Update View2 minutes
2.1.2 Counter App1 minute
2.1.3 Replay Determinism1 minute
2.2.1 Crossterm Event Loop2 minutes
2.2.2 Keyevent To Msg2 minutes
2.2.3 Ctrl C And Quit1 minute

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

Key Terms: init / update / view — the Elm Shape10 minutes
Reflection: init / update / view — the Elm Shape10 minutes
Key Terms: crossterm's Event Loop10 minutes
Reflection: crossterm's Event Loop10 minutes

Compose widgets that do real work — Sparklines from eight Unicode block glyphs, BrailleGraphs at 4x resolution, a CpuGrid that wraps one cell per core, a ProcessTable that scrolls, and a MemoryBar that fills. Each widget is one paint(rect) call; together they form a live system-monitor TUI.

What's included

6 videos4 readings

6 videosTotal 10 minutes

3.1.1 Block Glyph Sparkline2 minutes
3.1.2 Braillegraph Sub Cell2 minutes
3.1.3 Totality Of Glyph2 minutes
3.2.1 Cpu Grid2 minutes
3.2.2 Process Table2 minutes
3.2.3 Memory Bar1 minute

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

Key Terms: Sparkline and BrailleGraph10 minutes
Reflection: Sparkline and BrailleGraph10 minutes
Key Terms: CpuGrid, ProcessTable, MemoryBar10 minutes
Reflection: CpuGrid, ProcessTable, MemoryBar10 minutes

Move from imperative paint calls to declarative scenes. Write .prs files that describe layout, then watch a 200-line recursive-descent compiler reconcile them against your widgets. Lock the look with probar snapshot tests — stringified CellBuffers, inline or file-backed goldens, byte-identical between runs, all running in CI without a TTY.

What's included

6 videos4 readings

6 videosTotal 9 minutes

4.1.1 Why Declarative TUI1 minute
4.1.2 Prs Format1 minute
4.1.3 Compile To Widget Tree1 minute
4.2.1 Snapshot As String2 minutes
4.2.2 Golden Diff2 minutes
4.2.3 Probar Pattern2 minutes

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

Key Terms: Declarative TUI and the .prs Format10 minutes
Reflection: YAML Scenes and the .prs Compiler10 minutes
Key Terms: Snapshot Testing with probar10 minutes
Reflection: probar Snapshot Testing10 minutes

Bring everything together: a deterministic Snapshot fixture feeds a single pure view that composes CpuGrid, Sparkline, MemoryBar, and ProcessTable into one ptop-mini dashboard, then swap the fixture for a /proc reader to run the same view live.