TODO-projects fall semester

(1) Build SQLite (Similar)

Mini Projects (day-long, gist of the concept): Buffer pool, Join, B+ Tree, Skip list, K-way external merge, SQL parser, Logical planner, Logical-to-physical planner, Write-ahead log

Database Query Optimizer Playground (capstone project):

Browser or mobile app frontend to visualize query plans

Backend in Go/Rust to:

Parse SQL

Convert to logical plan

Apply cost-based and rule-based optimizations

(1.5) Custom In-Memory SQL Query Engine -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/OptiSQL)

What: Build an in-memory columnar cache that parses basic SQL (SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY), converts to AST → logical plan → physical plan, and executes column-by-column with vectorized operators (scan, filter, projection, aggregate).

Why: Combines two critical database concepts—SQL query planning and columnar execution—showing how modern analytics engines like Trino/Arrow work under the hood.

Takeaways:

• Parse SQL into AST and map to relational algebra operators
• Execute queries column-by-column for cache efficiency and vectorization
• Understand why "batch-at-a-time" beats "row-at-a-time" processing
• Learn transformation rules (predicate pushdown, join reordering)
• Appreciate Arrow's memory model and SIMD optimization opportunities

2. Distributed Cache -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/RapidStore)

In-memory cache cluster with eviction policies (LRU/LFU).

Support replication + consistent hashing. Expose gRPC/HTTP APIs.

3. Distributed Notes/Docs System (Google Docs–lite) -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/Draftly)

Support concurrent edits with CRDTs or OT (operational transforms).

Store history in a log + snapshots.

quicker projects that focus on learning

(11) Reverse Proxy with Load Balancing (Repo) -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/PivotProxy)

• Implement a proxy server in Go/Rust.
• Support round-robin, least-connections, weighted load balancing.
• Add health checks + failover.

(22) Service Discovery + Registry Like Consul or etcd-lite (Repo) -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/RouteFinder)

• In a microservices architecture, services (auth, payments, notifications, etc.) run on many machines or containers.
• Containers often get dynamic IP addresses (e.g., in Kubernetes, AWS ECS, GCP Cloud Run).
• Hardcoding addresses (like http://10.0.0.5:8080) doesn’t work because machines can move, die, or scale up/down.

33. Music Queue for Parties (Distributed Jukebox) -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/BeatBus)

Guests join via QR code, queue songs.

Backend prevents duplicates, handles voting to skip.

Store song metadata + votes in Redis/Postgres.

Personal weekend projects

55. HTTP Server Built on a Raw TCP Server -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/Custom-HTTP-Server)

• The TCP server listens for client connections, accepts raw byte streams, and then parses the HTTP request format (method, path, headers, and body).
• Strengthens skills in network programming, parsing protocols, and managing connections.

66. working with Parquet reader -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/pq-golang-reader)

• Implement a parquet reader that takes in a parquet file and prints it out in a pretty format

77 Custom json validator and parser -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/ParseJJ)

• take in json and check that its valid
• parse the json and grab its values
• no built in json librarys

88 Very inverted index implementation -> (https://github.com/Rich-T-kid/CrawlStack)

• Implement and test inverse index