Who made Hybrix?

Hi, my name is Pete Gonzalez, or "Octogonz" in the open source community. As a professional software architect, I develop TypeScript tooling that helps tech companies manage very large code bases.

I got the idea for Hybrix while looking for a way to teach my son to code. Something about the popular learning platforms bothered me. It seemed all wrong.

You see, my own engineering journey began back in the 1980s, when a computer was simple enough that you could know everything about it. You even learned about the underlying electronics. This provided a powerful mental framework that, looking back, underpinned the rest of my career. It's how I think about computers.

Nowadays, that foundation feels lost. Languages like Python and Scratch appeal to beginners by hiding away crucial concepts such as bytes and memory addresses, treating that as an advanced topic for much later. At work, we often see people fail their coding interview because they've learned algorithms but not computers.

Of course, a microcontroller like Arduino can teach you about hardware, but it's a long road for a beginner to get to an inspiring result. I also tried showing my son a real Commodore 64. But growing up in a world of iPad's, it just felt antiquated. There really was no modern equivalent!

So, I designed a system to fill this gap. Hybrix packs all the most essential concepts into a friendly environment that runs in your web browser. It's not just another custom compiler—every aspect is meticulously crafted for learning. I invented a novel CPU register architecture, garbage collector, and audio synthesizer. I filed a patent.

It took five years to finish, hacking away in my spare time.

Why choose Hybrix?

Hybrix is how I think about computers, compressed down into a single system that's optimized for learning... then polished up with pleasant graphics and audio, for endless hours of coding fun!

It's not a substitute for other studies. But it's your key to understanding how computers really work. To learning faster. You can realistically know everything there is to know about Hybrix. You'll be able to explain every byte of your programs.

Don't just write code. Start your journey to becoming a top engineer!