diff --git a/src/util/atom.rs b/src/util/atom.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..489611d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/atom.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,261 @@
+use std::{
+    cell::UnsafeCell,
+    sync::{Mutex, OnceLock},
+};
+
+const BUCKET_BITS: usize = 10;
+const BUCKET_SIZE: usize = 1 << BUCKET_BITS;
+const BUCKET_MASK: usize = BUCKET_SIZE - 1;
+
+type HashType = u32;
+
+struct AtomData {
+    data: &'static str,
+    hash: HashType,
+    next: UnsafeCell<Option<&'static AtomData>>,
+}
+
+impl AtomData {
+    fn new(data: &'static str, hash: HashType) -> &'static Self {
+        let data = Self { data, hash, next: UnsafeCell::new(None) };
+        Box::leak(Box::new(data))
+    }
+
+    fn iter(&'static self) -> AtomIter {
+        AtomIter { current: Some(self) }
+    }
+}
+
+unsafe impl Sync for AtomData {}
+unsafe impl Send for AtomData {}
+
+struct AtomIter {
+    current: Option<&'static AtomData>,
+}
+
+impl Iterator for AtomIter {
+    type Item = &'static AtomData;
+
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
+        let current = self.current?;
+        self.current = unsafe { *current.next.get() };
+        Some(current)
+    }
+}
+
+struct AtomStore {
+    buckets: [Option<&'static AtomData>; BUCKET_SIZE],
+}
+
+const fn string_hash(data: &str) -> HashType {
+    let mut hash = 0x811c9dc5u32;
+    let mut i = 0;
+    let bytes = data.as_bytes();
+    while i < bytes.len() {
+        let byte = bytes[i] as u32;
+        hash ^= byte;
+        hash = hash.wrapping_mul(0x01000193u32);
+        i += 1;
+    }
+
+    hash
+}
+
+impl AtomStore {
+    fn new() -> Box<Self> {
+        Box::new(Self { buckets: [None; BUCKET_SIZE] })
+    }
+
+    fn find(&self, data: &str) -> Option<Atom> {
+        let hash = string_hash(data);
+        let bucket = (hash as usize) & BUCKET_MASK;
+        let bucket = unsafe { self.buckets.get_unchecked(bucket) };
+
+        if let Some(atom) = bucket {
+            let iter = atom.iter();
+            for atom in iter {
+                if atom.data == data {
+                    return Some(Atom(atom));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        None
+    }
+
+    fn find_or_insert(&mut self, data: &str) -> Atom {
+        if let Some(atom) = self.find(data) {
+            return atom;
+        }
+
+        let string: &'static str = Box::leak(data.to_string().into_boxed_str());
+        self.insert(string)
+    }
+
+    fn insert(&mut self, data: &'static str) -> Atom {
+        let hash = string_hash(data);
+        let bucket = (hash as usize) & BUCKET_MASK;
+        let bucket = unsafe { self.buckets.get_unchecked_mut(bucket) };
+
+        if let Some(atom) = bucket {
+            let iter = atom.iter();
+            let mut prev_atom = *atom;
+            for atom in iter {
+                if atom.data == data {
+                    return Atom(atom);
+                }
+
+                prev_atom = atom;
+            }
+
+            let new_atom = AtomData::new(data, hash);
+            unsafe {
+                *prev_atom.next.get() = Some(new_atom);
+            }
+            Atom(new_atom)
+        } else {
+            let atom = AtomData::new(data, hash);
+            *bucket = Some(atom);
+            Atom(atom)
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(any(test, debug_assertions))]
+    fn print_debug(&self) {
+        for (i, bucket) in self.buckets.iter().enumerate() {
+            if let Some(atom) = bucket {
+                println!("Bucket {}: {:?}", i, atom.data);
+                let iter = atom.iter();
+                for atom in iter {
+                    println!("  {:?}", atom.data);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Debug for AtomStore {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        f.write_str("AtomStore")?;
+
+        #[cfg(any(test, debug_assertions))]
+        {
+            let mut dbg = f.debug_map();
+            for (i, bucket) in self.buckets.iter().enumerate() {
+                if let Some(atom) = bucket {
+                    struct AtomPrintList(&'static AtomData);
+                    impl std::fmt::Debug for AtomPrintList {
+                        fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+                            let mut list = f.debug_list();
+                            let iter = self.0.iter();
+                            for atom in iter {
+                                list.entry(&atom.data);
+                            }
+                            list.finish()
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    dbg.entry(&i, &AtomPrintList(atom));
+                }
+            }
+            dbg.finish()
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static ATOM_STORE: OnceLock<Mutex<Box<AtomStore>>> = OnceLock::new();
+
+fn get_atom_store() -> &'static Mutex<Box<AtomStore>> {
+    ATOM_STORE.get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(AtomStore::new()))
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+#[repr(transparent)]
+pub struct Atom(*const AtomData);
+
+impl Atom {
+    pub fn new(data: &'static str) -> Self {
+        get_atom_store().lock().unwrap().insert(data)
+    }
+
+    pub fn new_str(data: &str) -> Self {
+        get_atom_store().lock().unwrap().find_or_insert(data)
+    }
+
+    fn data(&self) -> &'static AtomData {
+        unsafe { &*self.0 }
+    }
+
+    pub fn as_str(&self) -> &'static str {
+        self.data().data
+    }
+}
+
+impl Eq for Atom {}
+
+impl PartialEq for Atom {
+    fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
+        self.0 == other.0
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::hash::Hash for Atom {
+    fn hash<H: std::hash::Hasher>(&self, state: &mut H) {
+        unsafe { (*self.0).hash.hash(state) }
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Debug for Atom {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        f.write_str("Atom(")?;
+        self.data().data.fmt(f)?;
+        f.write_str(")")
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for Atom {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        self.data().data.fmt(f)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_atom() {
+        // basic tests
+        let a = Atom::new("hello");
+        let b = Atom::new("world");
+        let c = Atom::new("hello");
+        let d = Atom::new_str("hello");
+        let e = Atom::new_str(&"hello".to_owned());
+
+        assert_eq!(a, c);
+        assert_ne!(a, b);
+        assert_ne!(b, c);
+        assert_eq!(a, d);
+        assert_eq!(a, e);
+
+        assert_eq!(a.as_str(), "hello");
+        assert_eq!(b.as_str(), "world");
+
+        // empty string tests
+        let empty = Atom::new("");
+        let empty2 = Atom::new_str("");
+        let empty_str = Atom::new_str("");
+
+        assert_eq!(empty, empty2);
+        assert_eq!(empty, empty_str);
+        assert_eq!(empty.as_str(), "");
+
+        // fnv32a collision test
+        let a = Atom::new("costarring");
+        let b = Atom::new("liquid");
+
+        assert_ne!(a, b);
+
+        println!("{:#?}", *get_atom_store().lock().unwrap());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/util/mod.rs b/src/util/mod.rs
index 3a13a75..8cf1c5e 100644
--- a/src/util/mod.rs
+++ b/src/util/mod.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+pub mod atom;
 pub mod bitvec;
 pub mod browser;
 pub mod rng;