C Notebook

Description

C Notebook is a notebook environment for writing and running C code in reusable cells, then saving that work as .cnb notebooks.

It provides two interfaces that share the same .cnb format:

• backend/: terminal C notebook engine
• frontend/: web UI (Google Colab-like)

Both interfaces compile and execute C code with GCC and share notebook storage, so notebooks created in one interface can be opened in the other.

Direct Execution (Recommended)

Requirements

• GCC
• Make
• Node.js (v18+)

From the repository root, run:

npm install && npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:3000.

This command flow:

1. Installs frontend dependencies (via postinstall)
2. Builds the C backend
3. Builds the TypeScript frontend
4. Starts the web server

Alternative (Make)

make install
make dev

This performs the same build-and-run flow using make.

Repository Structure

package.json   → Root orchestration scripts (all-in-one build & run)
Makefile       → Root Makefile for make-based workflow
backend/       → C terminal backend, build files, memory, and saved notebooks
frontend/      → Web frontend (TypeScript + Express + static UI)

Backend Only (Terminal)

Build & Run

cd backend
make
./cnb

Terminal Commands

• :save → Save current notebook
• :load → Load default notebook
• :exit → Exit

Backend data paths:

• backend/output_cnbs/ for saved .cnb notebooks
• backend/memory/ for temporary compilation artifacts

Frontend Only (Web UI)

Build & Run

cd frontend
npm install
npm run build
npm start

Open http://localhost:3000.

The frontend API compiles C cells with GCC and stores notebooks in backend/output_cnbs/, sharing notebook data with the terminal backend.

npm Scripts Reference

Script	Description
npm install	Installs frontend dependencies (via postinstall)
npm run build	Builds both backend (make) and frontend (tsc)
npm run build:backend	Builds only the C backend
npm run build:frontend	Builds only the TypeScript frontend
npm start	Starts the web server
npm run dev	Builds everything and starts the server
npm run clean	Removes all build artifacts

Author

Eduardo J. Barrios
https://edujbarrios.com