IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Visualizing Binary Files

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Variety of binary‑visualization tools are recommended and compared
- “I have really liked fq for binary visualization.” – lbhdc
- “I always liked the 3D visualization in Veles. It's very intuitive to make out structured ASCII or other non‑compressed sections in binary data.” – nvalis
- “You might be interested in GNU poke, a hex‑editor type program that can actually parse and visualize the structure of binary data (using a DSL for describing formats).” – st_goliath
- “I've been using ImHex for this purpose, to pretty good effect.” – pdpi
- “And binwalk if you want to find the juice within the file.” – 1970‑01‑01
- “Christopher Domas gave a nice presentation … about software that ended up becoming CantorDust.” – EvanAnderson
- “Rizin has the byte‑level highlight … and there is an issue for Cutter to add binary visualization as a plugin.” – xvilka
- “arcan has senseye.” – Piraty
- “ClickHouse can read and visualize its own binary … useful to understand which dependencies … contribute to the size.” – zX41ZdbW

2. Praise for visual/interactive features that aid understanding (color‑coding, 3D, structural parsing)
- “Your hex editor should color‑code bytes.” – WalterGR (referencing simonomi.dev)
- “3D visualization in Veles … very intuitive to make out structured ASCII …” – nvalis
- “GNU poke … can actually parse and visualize the structure of binary data.” – st_goliath
- “Rizin … byte‑level highlight … rotate through modes using p or P.” – xvilka
- “ImHex … pretty good effect.” – pdpi

3. Personal projects, open‑source contributions, and desire for specific visualizations (treemaps, posters, etc.)
- “Very nice, I did something similar a while back and was going to make a poster of interesting ones to hang in my office …” – trevor-e
- “If anyone is interested we open‑sourced launchpad which can produce a treemap visualization for Mach‑O. I've been working on ELF support in my free time …” – trevor-e
- “ClickHouse can read and visualize its own binary … useful to understand which dependencies … contribute to the size.” – zX41ZdbW (shows a personal use‑case for visualizing size contributors)

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

BinaryCanvas – Web-based Interactive Binary Visualizer

Summary

  • A drag‑and‑drop web app that lets users explore binary files with hex view, ASCII overlay, structure highlighting via a simple DSL, and exportable visualizations (PNG/SVG) for posters or reports.
  • Core value: instant, cross‑platform binary inspection without installing heavyweight tools, plus shareable visual outputs.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Reverse engineers, malware analysts, embedded developers, educators
Core Feature Interactive hex/ASCII view with color‑coded regions defined by a JSON‑based format DSL; zoom, search, pattern overlay (e.g., known signatures), and one‑click export to high‑resolution image
Tech Stack React + TypeScript frontend, WebAssembly‑compiled Rust parser for speed, D3.js/Canvas for rendering, Vite build, optional Electron wrapper
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN users praised fq, Veles, ImHex, and GNU poke for intuitive binary visualization; a browser‑based tool would lower the barrier for quick look‑ins and sharing results in discussions or blogs.
  • Could become a go‑to resource for teaching file formats, generating the “poster of interesting visualizations” mentioned by trevor‑e, and integrating into online CTF platforms.

BinView Editor Extension – Inline Binary Visualization for VS Code & Neovim

Summary

  • An editor extension that shows a side‑panel (or gutter) with a live, color‑coded binary view of the file under the cursor, interpreting structures via a DSL (similar to GNU poke) and allowing hover‑over field descriptions.
  • Core value: brings the power of dedicated hex editors directly into the developer’s workflow, reducing context switching.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers working with binary protocols, firmware, file formats, and security researchers
Core Feature Inline binary view with syntax highlighting, click‑to‑navigate to struct definitions, hover tooltips showing field names/types, and ability to toggle between raw hex and interpreted view
Tech Stack TypeScript/VS Code Extension API + Neovim plugin (Lua), Rust core parser compiled to WASM or native node binding, Language Server Protocol for symbol lookup
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Commenters expressed love for tools like ImHex and Rizin’s visual mode but wished they were available inside their editors; this extension would satisfy that desire.
  • Could spark discussion on HN about integrating DSL‑based parsing into everyday editing workflows and encourage community contributions of format specs.

SizeMap CLI – Binary Size & Dependency Treemap Generator for CI

Summary

  • A command‑line tool (and optional GitHub Action) that analyzes ELF/Mach‑O binaries, produces an interactive treemap showing contribution of sections, symbols, libraries, and template instantiations, and outputs a self‑contained HTML report for CI dashboards.
  • Core value: gives teams immediate insight into what is driving binary size, enabling size‑reduction decisions and tracking regressions over time.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Performance engineers, size‑conscious C/C++/Rust developers, release managers, embedded teams
Core Feature Parses binary, aggregates size by symbol/library/section, generates a zoomable treemap (using D3.js) and a summary JSON; supports diff mode to compare two builds
Tech Stack Rust (goblin/object crates) for binary parsing, generate static HTML/JS bundle, packaged as a single binary; optional GitHub Action wrapper in TypeScript
Difficulty Medium‑High
Monetization Revenue-ready: SaaS tier for private repos (free tier for OSS, $9/mo per team for private, enterprise SSO)

Notes

  • The discussion mentioned launchpad’s Mach‑O treemap and a desire for ELF support; SizeMap would fill that gap and be useful for the “size‑conscious” crowd.
  • Providing a CI‑friendly artifact would likely earn upvotes on HN, as developers love actionable metrics that integrate into their pipelines.

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