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I built an interactive LSM Tree simulator

I built an interactive LSM Tree simulator

by saiprakashreddy·Feb 17, 2026·1 point·0 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemWizardry
The Take

This actually simulates the full write path — WAL to memtable to immutable flush — and animates cascading leveled compactions so you can watch key movement and file counts in real time. The live bloom-filter checks and amplification metrics are the parts that will teach you something immediately; it's clearly built as a learning/debugging sandbox rather than a production profiler.

Target Audience

Backend developers, database engineers, systems students, and anyone learning storage engine internals

Post Description

I built a simulator that models: • The full write path (WAL, Memtable, Immutable Memtable, L0 flush) • Leveled compaction with cascading merges • Read path with real bloom filter checks (not mocked) • Live write, read, and space amplification metrics

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