crypto-algorithms
Basic implementations of standard cryptography algorithms for educational and pragmatic purposes.
What is crypto-algorithms?
crypto-algorithms is a collection of basic, from-scratch implementations of standard cryptography algorithms like AES and SHA-1. It provides publicly accessible, restriction-free code primarily intended for educational purposes and practical applications such as comparing specifications to implementations or computing test vectors for products.
Developers and students learning about cryptographic algorithm internals, or engineers needing reference implementations for testing and validation purposes in non-security-critical contexts.
It offers clean, readable implementations without external dependencies or licensing restrictions, making it ideal for educational use and internal testing where cryptographic security is not required.
Overview
Basic implementations of standard cryptography algorithms, like AES and SHA-1.
Use Cases
Best For
- Learning how cryptographic algorithms like AES and SHA-1 work internally
- Comparing cryptographic specifications to actual implementation code
- Generating test vectors for product validation and testing
- Educational projects and cryptography coursework
- Non-security-critical internal applications needing basic crypto computations
- Understanding algorithm flow without optimization complexities
Not Ideal For
- Production systems requiring cryptographically secure implementations with side-channel attack resistance
- Applications where high-performance and optimized crypto operations are necessary for speed or memory efficiency
- Projects dependent on actively maintained libraries with regular updates, community support, or compliance with industry standards
Pros & Cons
Pros
Code is released without any restrictions, allowing free use in any project with only optional acknowledgement, as explicitly stated in the README.
Implementations are designed to be easy to read, making cryptographic algorithm internals accessible for learning without optimization complexities.
All algorithms have been tested against standard test vectors, ensuring correctness for educational reference and internal testing purposes.
Each algorithm comes as standalone source and header files with no inter-dependencies, simplifying compilation and integration into projects.
Cons
Admitted in the README, implementations have no resistance to side-channel attacks and are not suitable for security-critical contexts, posing risks for production use.
Prioritized for readability over optimization, resulting in inefficient code for speed and memory usage compared to production-grade libraries like OpenSSL.
The project is static with no updates, bug fixes, or community support, which can be problematic for evolving cryptographic standards or long-term projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
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