What Are the Hottest Open‑Source Projects of 2018? Top 30 Newcomers and 50 Favorites Revealed

Open Source China this week announced two annual rankings: the Domestic Newcomer Top 30 and the Domestic Newly Added Top 50 . Both lists draw from Chinese open‑source projects, so some projects appear on both.

The newly released Open Source China 2018 Newly Added Open‑Source Software Most Popular Top 50 selects software added to the platform in 2018, ranking them by attention, activity and influence, and filtering out unsuitable projects.

Deno: a V8‑based JavaScript/TypeScript runtime

Deno was launched in 2018 by Ryan Dahl, the creator of Node.js. It is a secure TypeScript runtime built on the V8 engine, aiming for browser compatibility rather than Node compatibility.

Project homepage: https://deno.land/

License: MIT

Languages: TypeScript, Rust, Python, C++, JavaScript

Thonny: a beginner‑friendly Python IDE

Thonny is a Python IDE developed by the University of Tartu, designed for beginners with a simple interface, a debugger tailored for learning, and plugin support.

Project homepage: https://thonny.org/

License: MIT

Language: Python

Helidon: Oracle’s lightweight Java microservice framework

Helidon is a Java microservice framework released by Oracle in 2018, built on Netty and part of Eclipse MicroProfile, offering a set of lightweight libraries for configuration, security and web server without requiring an application server.

Project homepage: https://helidon.io/

License: Apache

Language: Java

Anna: a high‑performance key‑value store

Anna is a key‑value storage database from Berkeley’s RISE lab, offering extremely fast access, high scalability and strong consistency thanks to a coordination‑free design.

Project homepage: https://rise.cs.berkeley.edu/blog/anna-kvs/

License: BSF

Languages: C/C++

gRPC‑Web: a Web client for gRPC services

gRPC‑Web is a JavaScript library that lets web applications communicate directly with backend gRPC services without an intermediate HTTP server.

Project homepage: https://github.com/grpc/grpc-web

License: Apache‑2.0

Languages: C/C++, JavaScript

Jenkins X: CI/CD for Kubernetes

Jenkins X is a highly integrated CI/CD platform built on Jenkins and Kubernetes, simplifying continuous delivery for cloud‑native microservice applications.

Project homepage: https://jenkins-x.io/

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Go

Jib: build container images for Java apps

Jib is a Google‑maintained library that builds Docker/OCI images for Java applications directly from Maven or Gradle without a Dockerfile or Docker daemon.

Project homepage: https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Java

Company: Google

Sketch2Code: turn hand‑drawn UI into HTML code

Sketch2Code is a Microsoft open‑source project that uses AI to convert hand‑drawn UI sketches into usable HTML code.

Project homepage: https://github.com/Microsoft/ailab/tree/master/Sketch2Code

License: MIT

Language: C#

Sourcegraph: code search and browsing tool

Sourcegraph is a Chrome extension that lets developers search and browse code on GitHub with IDE‑like features.

Project homepage: https://about.sourcegraph.com/

License: Apache‑2.0

Languages: Python, Go, TypeScript

Vuido: build native desktop apps with Vue.js

Vuido enables developers to create lightweight native desktop applications for Windows, macOS and Linux using Vue.js without Electron.

Project homepage: https://vuido.mimec.org/

License: MIT

Language: JavaScript

Apache Edgent: runtime for IoT devices

Apache Edgent is a micro‑kernel style runtime that can be embedded in gateways and small IoT devices to analyze continuous data streams in real time.

Project homepage: https://edgent.apache.org/

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Java

RIOT‑OS: real‑time multi‑threaded IoT OS

RIOT‑OS is a real‑time, multi‑threaded operating system for IoT devices, supporting 8‑, 16‑ and 32‑bit microcontrollers with a modular API.

Project homepage: http://www.riot-os.org/

License: LGPL‑2.1

Languages: C/C++

Katran: high‑performance L4 load balancer

Katran is Facebook’s open‑source L4 load balancer built on eXpress Data Path and eBPF, currently used internally at Facebook.

Project homepage: https://github.com/facebookincubator/katran

License: GPLv2

Languages: C/C++, Python, Go

Micronaut: JVM‑based microservice framework

Micronaut is a next‑generation JVM‑based microservice framework from the Grails team, supporting Java, Groovy and Kotlin with low memory footprint and fast startup.

Project homepage: http://micronaut.io/

License: Apache

Language: Java

pico.js: tiny JavaScript face‑detection library

pico.js is a 200‑line pure JavaScript face‑detection library capable of real‑time detection at over 200 FPS, compressed to 2 KB.

Project homepage: https://github.com/tehnokv/picojs

License: MIT

Language: JavaScript

Uber JVM Profiler: distributed tracing tool

JVM Profiler is an open‑source distributed tracer from Uber Engineering for collecting performance and resource metrics from JVM‑based services, originally built for Spark.

Project homepage: https://github.com/uber-common/jvm-profiler

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Java

QuantumKatas: open‑source quantum programming tutorials

QuantumKatas provides a series of tutorials for learning quantum computing and Q# programming, offering tasks that range from a single line of code to larger implementations.

Project homepage: https://github.com/Microsoft/QuantumKatas

License: MIT

Language: C#

Flutter Desktop Embedding: cross‑platform desktop apps with Flutter

Flutter Desktop Embedding is an official library that allows Flutter applications to be compiled for Windows, macOS and Linux, providing APIs for graphics, input and native platform features.

Project homepage: https://github.com/google/flutter-desktop-embedding

License: Apache‑2.0

Languages: C/C++, Objective‑C

ML.NET: cross‑platform machine‑learning framework

ML.NET is an open‑source, cross‑platform machine‑learning framework that enables .NET developers to build, train and integrate custom ML models without deep ML expertise.

Project homepage: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/apps/machinelearning-ai/ml-dotnet

License: MIT

Languages: C#, C/C++

Dive: analyze and explore Docker image layers

Dive is a Go‑based tool that visualizes the contents of each Docker image layer, helping users identify duplicate files and reduce image size.

Project homepage: https://github.com/wagoodman/dive

License: MIT

Language: Go

bs :: framework: next‑gen C++ game development framework

bs :: framework is a modern C++ game development framework offering audio, animation, GUI, input, physics, rendering, scripting and support for over 30 asset formats across Windows, Linux and macOS.

Project homepage: https://www.bsframework.io/

License: MIT

Languages: C/C++

DeepCreamPy: remove mosaics with deep neural networks

DeepCreamPy uses deep neural networks to remove mosaics from images; users draw a green line over the area to be restored and the tool automatically reconstructs the content.

Project homepage: https://github.com/deeppomf/DeepCreamPy

License: AGPL

Language: Python

Corretto: Amazon’s OpenJDK distribution

Amazon Corretto is a free, cross‑platform OpenJDK distribution that runs on cloud and on‑premises environments, passing the TCK for Java SE compatibility.

Project homepage: https://github.com/corretto/corretto-8

License: GPLv2

Languages: Java, C/C++

browsh: modern text‑based web browser

browsh is a pure‑text browser that can render modern web content (HTML5, CSS3, JS, video, WebGL) in terminal environments, reducing bandwidth for remote access.

Project homepage: https://www.brow.sh/

License: GPLv3

Language: JavaScript

Tabler: Bootstrap 4‑based HTML dashboard UI kit

Tabler is an HTML dashboard UI kit built on Bootstrap 4, offering a clean, responsive design with minimal JavaScript.

Project homepage: https://tabler.github.io/

License: MIT

Languages: HTML, CSS

Grafana Loki: log aggregation system

Loki is a horizontally scalable, highly available log aggregation system that indexes logs by labels instead of full text, inspired by Prometheus.

Project homepage: https://github.com/grafana/loki

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Go

Dopamine: TensorFlow‑based reinforcement‑learning framework

Dopamine is a Google AI Lab reinforcement‑learning framework built on TensorFlow, designed for both beginners and advanced researchers.

Project homepage: https://github.com/google/dopamine

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Python

GoCity: 3D visualization of Go source code

GoCity visualizes Go projects as 3D cities, mapping projects to districts, files to buildings, and data structures to sub‑buildings.

Project homepage: https://go-city.github.io/

License: MIT

Language: Go

Trill: high‑performance streaming analytics engine

Trill is a Microsoft Research open‑source streaming engine that processes temporal data with query models, achieving up to a trillion events per day.

Project homepage: https://github.com/Microsoft/trill

License: MIT

Language: C#

NiftyNet: TensorFlow‑based medical imaging platform

NiftyNet is an open‑source TensorFlow platform for medical image analysis and image‑guided therapy, offering modular components and pre‑trained models.

Project homepage: http://www.niftynet.io/

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Python

Kubeless: Kubernetes‑native serverless framework

Kubeless is a serverless framework that runs on Kubernetes, providing automatic scaling, API routing, monitoring and debugging via native Kubernetes resources.

Project homepage: https://kubeless.io/

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Go

Tinn: tiny C neural‑network library

Tinn is a 200‑line C99 neural‑network library with no dependencies, compilable with any C++ compiler.

Project homepage: https://github.com/glouw/tinn

License: MIT

Language: C

WTF: Go‑based personal dashboard CLI

WTF is a Go‑based command‑line tool that displays personal dashboard data, inspired by tiny‑care‑terminal.

Project homepage: https://wtfutil.com/

License: MPL‑2.0

Language: Go

faceswap: deepfake face‑swap tool

faceswap uses deep learning to swap faces in images and videos, preserving expressions for realistic results.

Project homepage: https://github.com/deepfakes/faceswap

License: GPLv3

Language: Python

Caire: content‑aware image resizing library

Caire implements seam carving for content‑aware image compression and expansion, supporting custom commands and both vertical and horizontal resizing.

Project homepage: https://github.com/esimov/caire

License: MIT

Language: Go

Envoy: open‑source edge and service proxy

Envoy is a high‑performance C++ edge and service proxy originally built at Lyft, now a CNCF project for cloud‑native applications and service meshes.

Project homepage: https://www.envoyproxy.io/

License: Apache‑2.0

Languages: C, C++

Knative: Kubernetes‑and‑Istio‑based serverless platform

Knative is Google’s open‑source serverless platform that extends Kubernetes with middleware for building, deploying and running modern container‑based applications.

Project homepage: https://github.com/knative

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: Go

Solid: decentralized web platform

Solid, announced by Tim Berners‑Lee, is an open‑source decentralized platform that gives users control over their data via personal data stores (PODs) and fine‑grained permissions.

Project homepage: https://github.com/solid/solid

License: MIT

TensorSpace: 3D neural‑network visualization framework

TensorSpace is a framework for building 3D visualizations of neural networks, supporting TensorFlow, Keras and TensorFlow.js models.

Project homepage: https://tensorspace.org/

License: Apache‑2.0

Language: JavaScript

Wired Elements: hand‑drawn UI component collection

Wired Elements is a set of hand‑drawn UI components for wireframes and mockups, offering a fresh, sketch‑style aesthetic.

Project homepage: https://wiredjs.com/

License: MIT

Language: JavaScript

Sparser: open‑source data parsing engine

Sparser is a Stanford‑originated parsing engine for raw data formats (JSON, Avro, Parquet) that uses SIMD to accelerate filtering, achieving up to 22× speed‑up over state‑of‑the‑art parsers.

Project homepage: https://dawn.cs.stanford.edu/2018/08/07/sparser/

License: BSD

Languages: C/C++

Tink: multi‑language, cross‑platform cryptographic library

Tink is a multi‑language cryptographic library used by many Google products, providing easy‑to‑use, secure APIs built on BoringSSL and other vetted libraries.

Project homepage: https://github.com/google/tink

License: Apache‑2.0

Languages: Java, C/C++, Python, Go