Kernelcode

Kernelcode is an open-source kernel project and development toolkit designed to explore modular operating system design and high-performance kernel subsystems. The project provides a reference kernel implementation, a build and test toolchain, and documentation intended for students, researchers, and hobbyist developers. It emphasizes portability, observability, and extensibility, with an architecture that supports multiple hardware platforms and experimentation with subsystem boundaries.

Originating from a collaboration among university researchers and independent developers in the 2010s, Kernelcode has evolved through multiple releases that introduced a modular driver framework, a unified scheduling interface, and a clearly defined API surface. Development is community-driven, with public design discussions and contribution guidelines.

Design and architecture: Kernelcode follows a modular monolithic kernel model featuring a core kernel with dynamically loadable modules. It provides a conventional memory management subsystem, an inter-process communication layer, and a device-driver interface. The core is primarily written in C, with experimental components in Rust to explore memory-safety advantages.

Key features include a POSIX-like user space interface, a built-in debugging and tracing framework, and tooling for bootstrapping, testing, and virtualization. The project also ships an educational hardware simulator to demonstrate kernel concepts without requiring physical hardware.

Status and reception: Kernelcode remains under active development with an international contributor base. It is commonly used in academic settings to illustrate kernel architecture and in self-directed learning projects. Critics note limited hardware support and maturity compared with established kernels, but praise its approachable design and emphasis on testability.