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Developer ships Zeri after five months, admits no clear user demand drove the build

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A developer spent five months building Zeri, a terminal-based multi-language REPL that supports Python, JavaScript, Ruby, and LuaJIT in a single interactive session. The project is architecturally split into two processes: a C++23 headless engine handling code evaluation and a Go-based TUI frontend, connected via a custom binary IPC protocol. Near the end of development, the creator realized they could not articulate a compelling reason why anyone would actually download or use the tool. Despite this, the developer chose to ship Zeri anyway, framing the experience as a lesson in the difference between building something technically sound and building something with genuine user demand. The project reflects a broader tension in software development between architecture-driven and problem-driven approaches to building tools.

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Developer ships Zeri after five months, admits no clear user demand drove the build · ShortSingh