TUI from Zero
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TUI from Zero
This course is part of Rust for Data Engineering Specialization
Instructor: Noah Gift
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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.
Skills you'll gain
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
May 2026
1 assignment
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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.
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 videos•Total 10 minutes
- 1.1.1 The Terminal Is A Grid•2 minutes
- 1.1.2 Presentar Cellbuffer•2 minutes
- 1.1.3 Diffrenderer Emits Only Changes•2 minutes
- 1.2.1 The Widget Trait•2 minutes
- 1.2.2 Container Row Column•2 minutes
- 1.2.3 Block And Label•1 minute
6 readings•Total 51 minutes
- About This Course•10 minutes
- Key Terms: The Terminal Is a Grid of Cells•10 minutes
- ELI5 Pixel Graphics•1 minute
- Reflection: The Terminal Is a Grid of Cells•10 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 videos•Total 9 minutes
- 2.1.1 Init Update View•2 minutes
- 2.1.2 Counter App•1 minute
- 2.1.3 Replay Determinism•1 minute
- 2.2.1 Crossterm Event Loop•2 minutes
- 2.2.2 Keyevent To Msg•2 minutes
- 2.2.3 Ctrl C And Quit•1 minute
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- Key Terms: init / update / view — the Elm Shape•10 minutes
- Reflection: init / update / view — the Elm Shape•10 minutes
- Key Terms: crossterm's Event Loop•10 minutes
- Reflection: crossterm's Event Loop•10 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 videos•Total 10 minutes
- 3.1.1 Block Glyph Sparkline•2 minutes
- 3.1.2 Braillegraph Sub Cell•2 minutes
- 3.1.3 Totality Of Glyph•2 minutes
- 3.2.1 Cpu Grid•2 minutes
- 3.2.2 Process Table•2 minutes
- 3.2.3 Memory Bar•1 minute
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- Key Terms: Sparkline and BrailleGraph•10 minutes
- Reflection: Sparkline and BrailleGraph•10 minutes
- Key Terms: CpuGrid, ProcessTable, MemoryBar•10 minutes
- Reflection: CpuGrid, ProcessTable, MemoryBar•10 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 videos•Total 9 minutes
- 4.1.1 Why Declarative TUI•1 minute
- 4.1.2 Prs Format•1 minute
- 4.1.3 Compile To Widget Tree•1 minute
- 4.2.1 Snapshot As String•2 minutes
- 4.2.2 Golden Diff•2 minutes
- 4.2.3 Probar Pattern•2 minutes
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- Key Terms: Declarative TUI and the .prs Format•10 minutes
- Reflection: YAML Scenes and the .prs Compiler•10 minutes
- Key Terms: Snapshot Testing with probar•10 minutes
- Reflection: probar Snapshot Testing•10 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.
What's included
4 videos6 readings1 assignment
4 videos•Total 9 minutes
- Snapshot Fixture•1 minute
- View Composes•1 minute
- Live Loop vs CI•2 minutes
- Demo ptop-mini•4 minutes
6 readings•Total 60 minutes
- Key Terms: The ptop-mini Snapshot Fixture•10 minutes
- Reflection: The ptop-mini Snapshot Fixture•10 minutes
- Key Terms: ptop-mini Demo over /proc•10 minutes
- Reflection: ptop-mini Demo over /proc•10 minutes
- Before You Go•10 minutes
- Next Steps•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Final Graded Quiz — TUI from Zero•30 minutes
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