Single-file public-domain/open source libraries with minimal dependencies

I am the author of a large number of single-file C/C++ public domain libraries. I am not the only person who writes libraries like this, so below are other, similar libraries.

Generally, the following is a list of small, easy-to-integrate, portable libraries which are usable from C and/or C++, and should be able to be compiled on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.

Rules

• Libraries must be usable from C or C++, ideally both
• Libraries should be usable from more than one platform (ideally, all major desktops and/or all major mobile)
• Libraries should compile and work on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms
• Libraries should use at most two files

Exceptions will be allowed for good reasons.

New libraries and corrections

See discussion after the list.

JSON Parsing

There are a lot of JSON parsers listed here. For some analysis and performance results, check out https://github.com/miloyip/nativejson-benchmark

Other lists

Also you might be interested in other related, but different lists:

• clib: list of (mostly) small single C functions (licenses not listed)

Library listing

Public domain single-file libraries usable from C and C++ are in bold. Other libraries are either non-public domain, or two files, or not usable from both C and C++, or all three. Libraries of more than two files are mostly forbidden.

For the API column, "C" means C only, "C++" means C++ only, and "C/C++" means C/C++ usable from either; some files may require building as C or C++ but still qualify as "C/C++" as long as the header file uses extern "C" to make it work. (In some cases, a header-file-only library may compile as both C or C++, but produce an implementation that can only be called from one or the other, because of a lack of use of extern "C"; in this case the table still qualifies it as C/C++, as this is not an obstacle to most users.)

Categories:

• 2D graphics
• 3D graphics
• 3D geometry file processing
• AI
• argument processing
• audio
• compression
• cryptography
• data structures
• files and filenames
• hardware interfacing
• image loading & processing
• mathematics for geometry
• mathematics
• miscellaneous
• multithreading
• networking
• parsing
• profiling
• scripting
• string processing
• tests
• user interface
• video

AI

library	license	API	files	description
micropather	zlib	C++	2	pathfinding with A*
Genann	zlib	C/C++	2	simple neural networks (ANN)

argv

library	license	API	files	description
parg	public domain	C	1	command-line argument parsing

audio

library	license	API	files	description
aw_ima.h	MIT	C/C++	1	IMA-ADPCM audio decoder
dr_flac	public domain	C/C++	1	FLAC audio decoder
dr_wav	public domain	C/C++	1	WAV audio loader
sts_mixer	public domain	C/C++	1	simple stereo audio mixer

compression

library	license	API	files	description
miniz.c	public domain	C/C++	1	compression,decompression, zip file, png writing
lz4	BSD	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
fastlz	MIT	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
pithy	BSD	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
microtar	MIT	C/C++	2	lightweight tar library

crypto

library	license	API	files	description
TweetNaCl	public domain	C	2	high-quality tiny cryptography library

data structures

library	license	API	files	description
klib	MIT	C/C++	2	many 2-file libs: hash, sort, b-tree, etc
uthash	BSD	C/C++	2	several 1-header, 1-license-file libs: generic hash, list, etc
PackedArray	WTFPLv2	C	2	memory-efficient array of elements with non-pow2 bitcount
minilibs	public domain	C	2	two-file binary tress (also regex, etc)
DG_dynarr.h	public domain	C/C++	1	typesafe dynamic arrays (like std::vector) for plain C

#files & filenames

library	license	API	files	description
DG_misc.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings
whereami	WTFPLv2	C/C++	2	get path/filename of executable or module
dirent	MIT	C/C++	1	dirent for windows: retrieve file & dir info
TinyDir	BSD	C	1	cross-platform directory reader

#geometry file

library	license	API	files	description
tk_objfile	MIT	C/C++	1	OBJ file loader
tinyply	public domain	C++	2	PLY mesh file loader
tinyobjloader	MIT	C++	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
tinyobjloader-c	MIT	C	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
yocto_obj.h	MIT	C/C++	1	wavefront OBJ file loader

#geometry math

library	license	API	files	description
nv_voronoi.h	public domain	C/C++	1	find voronoi regions on lattice w/ integer inputs
sobol.h	public domain	C/C++	1	sobol & stratified sampling sequences
sdf.h	MIT	C/C++	1	compute signed-distance field from antialiased image
nanoflann	BSD	C++	1	build KD trees for point clouds
jc_voronoi	MIT	C/C++	1	find voronoi regions on float/double data
par_msquares	MIT	C/C++	1	convert (binarized) image to triangles
par_shapes	MIT	C/C++	1	generate various 3d geometric shapes
Tomas Akenine-Moller snippets	public domain	C/C++	2	various 3D intersection calculations, not lib-ified
Clipper	Boost	C++	2	line & polygon clipping & offsetting
PolyPartition	MIT	C++	2	polygon triangulation, partitioning
Voxelizer	MIT	C/C++	1	convert triangle mesh to voxel triangle mesh
yocto_bvh.h	MIT	C/C++	1	ray-casting and closest-element queries of bounding-volume hierarchy
yocto_shape.h	MIT	C/C++	1	shape generation, tesselation, normals, etc.

#graphics (2d)

library	license	API	files	description
blendish	MIT	C/C++	1	blender-style widget rendering
tigr	public domain	C/C++	2	quick-n-dirty window text/graphics for Windows and OSX
noc_turtle	MIT	C/C++	2	procedural graphics generator

#graphics (3d)

library	license	API	files	description
yocto_trace.h	MIT	C/C++	1	physically-based unidirectional path tracer w/ MIS for direct lights
yocto_symrigid.h	MIT	C/C++	1	rigid body simulator (sequential impulse/PGS) with support for concave objects
mikktspace	zlib	C/C++	2	compute tangent space for normal mapping
debug-draw	public domain	C++	1	API-agnostic immediate-mode debug rendering
lightmapper	public domain	C/C++	1	use your OpenGL renderer to offline bake lightmaps

#hardware

library	license	API	files	description
EasyTab	public domain	C/C++	1	multi-platform tablet input

#images

library	license	API	files	description
jo_gif.cpp	public domain	C++	1	animated GIF writer (CPP file can also be used as H file)
gif.h	public domain	C	1	animated GIF writer (can only include once)
tiny_jpeg.h	public domain	C/C++	1	JPEG encoder
gif_load	public domain	C/C++	1	(animated) GIF reader
miniexr	public domain	C++	2	OpenEXR writer, needs header file
tinyexr	BSD	C/C++	1	EXR image read/write, uses miniz internally
lodepng	zlib	C/C++	2	PNG encoder/decoder
nanoSVG	zlib	C/C++	1	1-file SVG parser; 1-file SVG rasterizer
picopng.cpp	zlib	C++	2	tiny PNG loader
jpeg-compressor	public domain	C++	2	2-file jpeg compress, 2-file jpeg decompress
easyexif	MIT	C++	2	EXIF metadata extractor for JPEG images
cro_mipmap.h	public domain	C/C++	1	average, min, max mipmap generators

#math

library	license	API	files	description
mm_vec.h	BSD	C/C++	1	SIMD vector math
Handmade Math	public domain	C/C++	1	vector math
gb_math	public domain	C/C++	1	Vector, quaternion and matrix math w/o math.h
ccVector.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Vector, quaternion and matrix math
ShaderFastLibs	MIT	C++	1	(also HLSL) approximate transcendental functions optimized for shaders (esp. GCN)
TinyExpr	zlib	C	2	evaluation of math expressions from strings
linalg.h	unlicense	C++	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
PoissonGenerator.h	MIT	C++	1	Poisson disk points generator (disk or rect)
prns.h	public domain	C/C++	1	seekable pseudo-random number sequences
aomeba	MIT	C/C++	1	constraint solver (Cassowary) w/Lua binding

#multithreading

library	license	API	files	description
mm_sched.h	zlib	C/C++	1	cross-platform multithreaded task scheduler

#network

library	license	API	files	description
zed_net	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform socket wrapper
sts_net	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform socket wrapper (socket sets and packet API)
mm_web.h	BSD	C/C++	1	lightweight webserver, fork of webby
par_easycurl.h	MIT	C/C++	1	curl wrapper
yocto	public domain	C/C++	2	non-production-use http server
happyhttp	zlib	C++	2	http client requests
mongoose	GPLv2	C/C++	2	http server
LUrlParser	MIT	C++	2	lightweight URL & URI parser RFC 1738, RFC 3986
znet	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform networking w/ lua binding

#parsing

library	license	API	files	description
SLRE	GPLv2	C/C++	1	regular expression matcher
PicoJSON	BSD	C++	1	JSON parse/serializer
mm_lexer.h	zlib	C/C++	1	C-esque language lexer
json.h	public domain	C/C++	2	JSON parser
jzon.h	MIT	C++	2	JSON parser
parson	MIT	C/C++	2	JSON parser and serializer
minilibs	public domain	C	2	two-file regex (also binary tree, etc)

#profiling

library	license	API	files	description
Remotery	Apache 2.0	C/C++	2	CPU/GPU profiler Win/Mac/Linux, using web browser for viewer
MicroProfile	unlicense	C++	2-4	CPU (and GPU?) profiler, 1-3 header files, uses miniz internally

#scripting

library	license	API	files	description
LIL	zlib	C/C++	2	interpreter for a Tcl-like scripting language
lualite	MIT	C++	1	generate lua bindings in C++
Picol	BSD	C/C++	1	interpreter for a Tcl-like scripting language

#strings

library	license	API	files	description
DG_misc.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings
utf8	public domain	C/C++	1	utf8 string library
strpool.h	public domain	C/C++	1	string interning
dfa	MIT	C/C++	2	fast utf8 decoder (need a header file)
gb_string.h	public domain	C/C++	1	dynamic strings

#tests

library	license	API	files	description
utest	MIT	C/C++	1	unit testing
catch	Boost	C++	1	unit testing
doctest	MIT	C++	1	unit testing
SPUT	BSD	C/C++	1	unit testing
pempek_assert.cpp	WTFPLv2	C++	2	flexible assertions
minctest	zlib	C	1	unit testing
greatest	iSC	C	1	unit testing
µnit	MIT	C	1	unit testing

#user interface

library	license	API	files	description
dear imgui	MIT	C++	9	an immediate-mode GUI formerly named "ImGui"; 3rd-party C wrapper
nuklear	public domain	C/C++	1	minimal GUI toolkit
noc_file_dialog.h	MIT	C/C++	1	file open/save dialogs (Linux/OSX/Windows)
tinyfiledialogs	ZLIB	C/C++	2	modal dialogs inc. file open/save (Linux/OSX/Windows)

#video

library	license	API	files	description
jo_mpeg	public domain	C++	1	mpeg file writer

#miscellaneous

library	license	API	files	description
MakeID.h	public domain	C++	1	allocate/deallocate small integer IDs efficiently
loguru	public domain	C++	1	flexible logging
tinyformat	Boost	C++	1	typesafe printf
dbgtools	zlib	C/C++	2	cross-platform debug util libraries
stmr	MIT	C	2	extract English word stems
levenshtein	MIT	C	2	compute edit distance between two strings