Nikola Mazzola.
High school senior building things on the internet. Exploring systems programming, web development, and whatever catches my attention.
Latest
Thoughts on code, technology, and everything in between.
Building My First Compiler: A Weekend Adventure
I spent 48 hours building a toy compiler from scratch — lexer, parser, codegen, the whole thing. Here's everything that went wrong, what I learned, and why I'd absolutely do it again.
Why Every Developer Should Learn Assembly
You don't need to write production assembly. But understanding what your code compiles to changes how you think about everything else.
The Tools I Use Every Day in 2026
My complete setup — editor, terminal, browser, notes, and the weird scripts that hold it all together.
How I Built This Website from Scratch
No frameworks. No templates. Just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — and the reasoning behind every design decision.