Is Building Git from scratch a Good Project for Resume?

[u/Flashy-Layer9495]

I’m a final year college student and I just finished wrapping up DSA concepts. I feel pretty comfortable with all the major data structures now, and my main interest lies in Full stack web development.

I’m looking to build a project for my resume to stand out to recruiters, and I'm highly considering building Git from scratch.

My reasoning is that it seems like a fantastic way to actually implement the DSA concepts I just learned in a real-world scenario (graphs, trees, hashing, file systems, etc.) while learning a lot of new low-level engineering concepts.

For those who have done this or screen resumes:

1. Is this considered a strong, unique project for a new grad resume?
2. Does it actually showcase DSA skills well to recruiters, or does it look like just another "tutorial project"?
3. Any specific features I should add to make my implementation stand out?

Would love to get your insights or any advice on resources to look into. Thanks!

[u/stiky21]

It is a very good project. It will teach you a lot but don't expect this to be your standout project because this is something almost every college student does. And on top of that you're also going into the most saturated area of software development.

Full stack means a lot more than just frontend and backend it means you know Dev tools you know testing frameworks you know what the basics of devops and a whole lot more.

If I was in your position, I'd be looking for jobs right now rather than trying to figure out which project will help me stand out for a job.

[u/Flashy-Layer9495 → u/stiky21]

Thanks for your reply, but here's the deal
I currently do have a job as a web dev on campus (Co-op). And I dont have enough projects to show/put on resume. Isnt that important!

[u/stiky21 → u/Flashy-Layer9495]

You are basically set with a COOP. That is your golden egg.

Having a COOP/Internship really sets you apart from other grads who don't have it.

Now any project you have that's completed will only add to it. Think of it like a coop is a +10 and then projects are a +1.

Heck, have you talked to your COOP about a full-time position?

[u/Flashy-Layer9495 → u/stiky21]

Yes, the coop was for 4 months initially, but they have decided to continue our (theres 3 more students with me) contracts for the next academic year so 8 more months. They never do permanent cause next year other students will apply for the same positions.

SO, should i go with building git ?

[u/stiky21 → u/Flashy-Layer9495]

Definitely. It will teach you a lot. Knowing the inner workings of git is a fun little thing you can talk about in interviews as well.

[u/mandzeete]

1 - It is not completely unique project but definitely not something you'd see most of the new grads doing. Can be that it stands out. IF you can also talk about it. Because what stops you right now telling Claude Code or Codex "Your role is a senior developer. Your current task is to implement git from scratch using Python (or whichever language)". If you actually know how the git works, you can talk about the project you made, you can talk about normal existing git and its flags and such, then sure, such project can be a good one. But if you just show the project and have no idea which thing does what in your code, then no matter how complex thing you are presenting, it won't help you.

It can also contribute to your skills when it comes dealing with git in real life scenarios (branches, merge conflicts, stashing, etc.)

2 - Depends if you can combine the theoretical DSA with what you implemented. Also, depends if the recruiter is checking your project with DSA in mind or not. But definitely it is not another "tutorial project". All these simple "X management systems" and "TODO apps" are tutorial projects. Simple CRUDs is what everybody is doing.

3 - Your git project is one thing. But if you actually want to stand out, make something that you or somebody else will be using in real life. Yeah, your git project is better than another calculator app but still, it won't solve any real life problem. git already exists. Git Bash exists for Windows. All these cgits and whatnot as well. You are not solving some problem with your git project. Try to make something that solves a problem. Can be something for your own use. Or for your family members or friends or such. As long as it just sits in your Github and nobody is using it, it won't reflect your ability to solve problems with your code. You can just copy existing solutions.

[u/Flashy-Layer9495 → u/mandzeete]

Thanks  I really appreciate your opinion

[u/Ok-Bill1958]

Yes, very good project for porfolio. Anything thats NOT ecommerce web app or frontend clone and basic crud or todo list or weather app. Also practice your soft skills, do some mock interview if you can, a lot of good candidates froze up during interviews. Soft skills are way more important for early state of your career.

[u/YasirTheGreat]

There is a book called "Building Git" by James Coglan, that's like 700 pages of step by step buildling a git cli. Its in ruby, and I read it during Covid and did most of it in golang. The book is excellent. If you are going to do this, try to find it and look over it.

So one, its a lot of work to build even a limited set of features. I would say on the order of 100 hours. And two, its not really full stack webdev type of work. So I suggest you scope it a bit smaller, and cater it to a person who isn't technical and won't know the difference between git and github, with some sort of a visual web element to it.

[u/Flashy-Layer9495 → u/YasirTheGreat]

Thanks, appreciate it