u/I_like_drawingb

I’m a student who loves building hardware/software projects, and I’m looking for my next big challenge.

Right now I’m stuck between two ambitious projects:

1. Designing and building my own custom ESP32 board from scratch (schematic, PCB, components, debugging, etc.)

or

1. Learning low-level systems programming and attempting to build my own kernel from scratch.

I know both are difficult in very different ways, so I wanted to ask people with real experience:

How hard is kernel development actually for someone starting from zero in OS development? What are the biggest challenges—bootloaders, memory management, drivers, debugging, architecture?

How long did it take before you had something that actually booted or felt “real”?

I’m not looking for the easiest option—I’m looking for the project that will teach me the most and push me the hardest.

Would love honest advice from people who are more experienced.