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. However, I have not personally verified that any specific lilbrary is as advertised, or is quality software.

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.

Recent additions

Recent additions are marked with italics. (The previous system of listing them separately caused too many merge conflicts.)

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)
• CCAN: package of lots of shareable C functions (mixed licenses)

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:

• general purpose
  • data structures
  • string processing
  • scripting
  • hashing
• mathematics
  • vector math
  • geometry math
  • general math
• parsing
  • JSON
  • other serialization
  • argv argument processing
  • other parsing
• graphics
  • textmode
  • 2D graphics
  • 3D graphics
  • 3D geometry file processing
  • image loading, saving, & processing
• audio/video/data compression
  • compression
  • audio processing & files
  • video
• videogames
• operating system features
  • files and filenames
  • multithreading
  • networking
  • hardware interfacing
• debugging, profiling, testing
  • debugging
  • profiling
  • unit testing etc.
• other
  • AI
  • cryptography
  • user interface
  • miscellaneous

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	2	command-line argument parsing
flags	public domain	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
optionparser	MIT	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
cmdline	BSD	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
linkom	MIT	C/C++	1	command-line argument parsing w/ DOS-style options

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
tinysound	zlib	C/C++	1	direct sound audio mixer & WAV loader
btac1c	MIT	C/C++	1	MS-IMA_ADPCM variant
TinySoundFont	MIT	C/C++	1	SoundFont2 loader & synthesizer

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
chobo-shl	MIT	C++	1	several C++11 standard contaner like libraries and helpers
libpqueue	BSD	C/C++	2	priority queue (heap)
simclist	BSD	C/C++	2	linked-list
selist	ISC	C/C++	2	space-efficient linked-list
avl	public domain	C/C++	2	AVL tree

debugging

library	license	API	files	description
loguru	public domain	C++	1	flexible logging
pempek_assert.cpp	WTFPLv2	C++	2	flexible assertions
debug-assert	zlib	C++	1	modular assertion macro
dbgtools	zlib	C/C++	2	cross-platform debug util libraries

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 reading (win/posix/mingw)
tinyfiles	zlib	C/C++	1	cross-platform directory reading (win/mac/unix)

#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
df	public domain	C/C++	1	find voronoi region in linear time of size of lattice
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.
rjm	public domain	C/C++	1	marching cubes triangulator

#graphics (text)

library	license	API	files	description
rang	public domain	C++	1	cross-platform colored console text

#graphics (2d)

library	license	API	files	description
blendish	MIT	C/C++	1	blender-style widget rendering using NanoVG
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
Cimg	CeCILL/CeCILL-C	C++	1	image processing toolkit (60K LoC)

#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
Swarmz	public domain	C++	1	swarming/flocking algorithm_
lightmapper	public domain	C/C++	1	use your OpenGL renderer to offline bake lightmaps
**seamoptimizer**_	public domain	C/C++	1	modify lightmap data to hide seams

#hardware

library	license	API	files	description
EasyTab	public domain	C/C++	1	multi-platform tablet input
libue	MIT	C/C++	1	Helper library for Linux device hot-plug event

#hashing

library	license	API	files	description
xxHash	BSD	C/C++	2	fast hash function

#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
TinyEXIF	BSD	C++	2	Parse EXIF data from JPEG (XMP w/ TinyXML2 lib)
cro_mipmap.h	public domain	C/C++	1	average, min, max mipmap generators
PDFgen	public domain	C	2	PDF writer

#math

library	license	API	files	description
ShaderFastLibs	MIT	C++	1	(also HLSL) approximate transcendental functions optimized for shaders (esp. GCN)
TinyExpr	zlib	C	2	evaluation of math expressions from strings
PoissonGenerator.h	MIT	C++	1	Poisson disk points generator (disk or rect)
prns.h	public domain	C/C++	1	seekable pseudo-random number sequences
amoeba	MIT	C/C++	1	constraint solver (Cassowary) w/Lua binding
simrank.hpp	MIT	C++	2	SimRank graph similarity algorithm
rnd.h	public domain	C/C++	1	pseudo-random number generation

#multithreading

library	license	API	files	description
mm_sched.h	zlib	C/C++	1	cross-platform multithreaded task scheduler based on enkiTS
oosmos	GPLv2	C/C++	2	threadless concurrency
thread.h	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform thread primitives

#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)
znet	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform networking w/ lua binding
mm_web.h	BSD	C/C++	1	lightweight webserver, fork of webby
yocto	public domain	C/C++	2	non-production-use http server
mongoose	GPLv2	C/C++	2	http server
EWS	BSD	C/C++	1	http server
civetweb	MIT	C/C++	2	http server, fork of mongoose
par_easycurl.h	MIT	C/C++	1	curl wrapper
happyhttp	zlib	C++	2	http client requests
LUrlParser	MIT	C++	2	lightweight URL & URI parser RFC 1738, RFC 3986

#serialization

library	license	API	files	description
archive	public domain	C++	1	binary serialize & deserlize w/ STL support

#json

library	license	API	files	description
PicoJSON	BSD	C++	1	JSON parse/serializer
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
json.hpp	MIT	C++	1	JSON parse, serialize, deserialize
cJSON	MIT	C/C++	1	JSON parser
ajson	Boost	C++	1	JSON serialize & deserialize w/ STL support

#parsing

library	license	API	files	description
SLRE	GPLv2	C/C++	1	regular expression matcher
mm_lexer.h	zlib	C/C++	1	C-esque language lexer
minilibs	public domain	C	2	two-file regex (also binary tree, etc)
tinymemfile	zlib	C++	1	fscanf on in-memory files
inih	BSD	C/C++	2	.ini file parser
ini.h	public domain	C/C++	1	.ini file parser

#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	public domain	C++	2-4	CPU (and GPU?) profiler, 1-3 header files, uses miniz internally
prof	MIT	C/C++	1	profiler for Linux

#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
s7	BSD	C/C++	2	interpreter for a subset of Scheme (R5RS/R7RS)
Duktape	MIT	C	2	an embeddable Javascript engine, with a focus on portability and compact footprint.

#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
minctest	zlib	C	1	unit testing
greatest	iSC	C	1	unit testing
µnit	MIT	C	1	unit testing
labrat	public domain	C/C++	1	unit testing
hippomocks	LGPL	C++	1	unit testing
fctx	BSD	C/C++	1	unit testing
catch	Boost	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)
linenoise	BSD	C/C++	2	terminal readline w/ history etc
wcwidth9	Apache 2.0	C	1	platform independent wcwidth with full unicode 9 support

#vectors

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
linalg.h	public domain	C++	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
linalg	ISC	C/C++	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
algebra3.h	public domain	C++	1	vector utilities for 2, 3, and 4 element vectors, all inline

#video

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

#videogames

library	license	API	files	description
app.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Windows-only-but-meant-to-be-cross-platform game-ish framework

#miscellaneous

library	license	API	files	description
MakeID.h	public domain	C++	1	allocate/deallocate small integer IDs efficiently
tinyformat	Boost	C++	1	typesafe printf
visit_struct	Boost	C++	2	struct-field reflection
stmr	MIT	C	2	extract English word stems
levenshtein	MIT	C	2	compute edit distance between two strings
tinytime	zlib	C/C++	1	quick-and-dirty time elapsed time
cpp-generators	BSD	C++	1	generators in C++
PlusCallback	zlib	C++	1	function/method callbacks

There are also these XML libraries, but if you're using XML, shame on you:

• parsing: tinyxml2: XML
• parsing: pugixml: XML (MIT license)

New libraries and corrections

Submissions of new libraries: I accept submissions (as issues or as pull requests). Please note that every file that must be included in a user's project counts; a header and a source file is 2 files, but a header file, source file, and LICENSE (if the license isn't in the source file) is 3 files, and won't be accepted, because it's not 2 files. But actually 'LICENSE' is a problem for just dropping the library in a source tree anyway, since it's not scoped to just the library, so library authors are encouraged to include the license in the source file and not require a separate LICENSE.

Corrections: if information for a library above is wrong, please send a correction as an issue, pull request, or email. Note that if the list indicates a library works from both C/C++, but it doesn't, this could be an error in the list or it could be a bug in the library. If you find a library doesn't work in 32-bit or 64-bit, the library should be removed from this list, unless it's a bug in the library.

List FAQ

Can I link directly to this list?

Yes. This is the preferred link.

Why isn't library XXX which is made of 3 or more files on this list?

I draw the line arbitrarily at 2 files at most. (Note that some libraries that appear to be two files require a separate LICENSE file, which made me leave them out). Some of these libraries are still easy to drop into your project and build, so you might still be ok with them. But since people come to stb for single-file public domain libraries, I feel that starts to get too far from what we do here.

Why isn't library XXX which is at most two files and has minimal other dependencies on this list?

Probably because I don't know about it, feel free to submit a pull request, issue, email, or tweet it at me (it can be your own library or somebody else's). But I might not include it for various other reasons, including subtleties of what is 'minimal other dependencies' and subtleties about what is 'lightweight'.

Why isn't SQLite's amalgamated build on this list?

Come on.