Terminals Are Just Text? Think Again

Terminals are essential tools for developers, but few understand how they actually work under the hood. This talk explores the architecture of terminal emulators by walking through the process of building one from scratch. From handling PTYs and ANSI escape codes to rendering text efficiently and managing input, we’ll uncover the hidden complexity behind the command line. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of terminal internals, systems programming, and the trade-offs involved in creating modern, high-performance developer tools. LEVEL: Intermediate