BlockCrypt v1.0.0 – First Stable AES-128 Release

First stable release of BlockCrypt – a modular AES-128 encryption library written in modern C++.

This version marks the first stable release of BlockCrypt, a modern C++ AES-128 encryption/decryption library designed for both educational purposes and practical usage.

Key Features:

• Full AES-128 implementation from scratch (ECB and CBC modes)
• CBC mode with PKCS#7 padding
• Command-line encryption & decryption utility
• S-box, Key Expansion, MixColumns, and all AES core operations implemented manually
• CLI interface for seamless integration into real workflows

Engineering Additions:

• Unit testing via CTest
• Latency & throughput benchmarks
• Debug options to print intermediate AES steps
• No third-party dependencies (pure C++ STL)
• CI/CD pipeline via GitHub Actions

Why this matters:
This release is ideal for developers and students who want to learn how AES works under the hood, explore byte-level operations, and work with a real-world cryptography project in C++.

What’s next:

• AES-192/256 support
• CTR and other streaming modes
• Base64 / binary-safe I/O
• Hardware acceleration (SIMD, AES-NI)