# PlummersSoftwareLLC/TinyRetroPad

Repository: https://github.com/PlummersSoftwareLLC/TinyRetroPad
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tinyretropad
Language: Assembly
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-06-29T20:47:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 54/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 35, longevity 6
- inputs: {"age_days": 90, "days_push": 65, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, young
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1736, forks 112 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:29.732993+00:00)

## What it is
TinyRetroPad is a Notepad-style Windows text editor written in x86 assembly that fits in roughly 2.5 KB, built with MASM and Crinkler compression. It is a fork of Dave's Tiny Editor (DTE) that wraps the WinAPI RICHEDIT50W control and adds a full menu set including file open/save, find/replace, font selection, word wrap, and a status bar.

## Use cases
- edit text files with an extremely small Windows notepad replacement
- study how a full-featured GUI text editor is implemented in x86 assembly
- learn sizecoding techniques for shrinking Windows executables to a few kilobytes
- explore Crinkler-compressed MASM builds and WinAPI RICHEDIT usage
- use as a teaching example of byte-cost tradeoffs for each editor feature

## When to choose
- you want a minimal Windows text editor that is only a few kilobytes in size
- you are learning x86 assembly, MASM, or sizecoding/demoscene-style development
- you want a real-world example of building Win32 GUI apps in pure assembly

## When to avoid
- you need a full-featured, actively supported daily text editor
- you cannot tolerate antivirus false positives from Crinkler-packed executables
- you need cross-platform support or a codebase in a maintainable high-level language

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: editor, gui, developer-tools
- domain: desktop-applications, text-editors, windows, developer-tools
- platform: windows
- tags: sizecoding, assembly, demoscene, crinkler, masm, notepad-clone, retro, tiny-executable, desktop

## Member repositories
- PlummersSoftwareLLC/TinyRetroPad (main) score 54

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:29.732993+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:30:40.353312+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/PlummersSoftwareLLC/TinyRetroPad (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:29.732993+00:00, sha 000c20c9779c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.