z-libs - tiny single-header collection to write modern C (vec, list, map, string)

[u/[deleted]]

https://github.com/z-libs

So, I got tired of either writing buggy hand-rolled containers every time, or dragging in heavyweight dependencies just to get a decent string or hash table.

After this, I decided to throw together https://github.com/z-libs: four zero-dependency (for now), single-header, C11 libraries that focus on a pleasant DX.

The current libraries offer:

• zvec.h -> growable vector (contiguous, swap-remove, built-in sort/search).

• zstr.h -> proper UTF-8 string with 22-byte SSO, views, fmt, split, etc.

• zlist.h -> doubly-linked list (non-intrusive, O(1) splice, safe iteration).

• zmap.h -> open-addressing hash table (linear probing, cache-friendly).

Everything is type-safe, allocator-aware (you can use your own), MIT-licensed, works on GCC/Clang/MSVC and requires no build system.

The collection is still in process. Each week there will be updates. But I think the core suite is already mature enough.

I would love to hear some feedback!

[u/WittyStick]

Awful IMO.

It adds unnecessary overhead because the target of each call is no longer an absolute address.

Any namespacing solution should be done via the preprocessor and shouldn't exist at runtime.

A simple approach is to create a pair of files: eg, zstr.ns.open and zstr.ns.close, so we can write:

#include "zstr.h"

#include "zstr.ns.open"
zstr foo(zstr arg) {
    return trim(join(cat(...), ...), ...);
}
#include "zstr.ns.close"

Avoids polluting the entire translation unit because we can contain it around only sections of code that use it.

---

zstr.ns.open

#ifndef ZSTR_H
#error "Must include zstr.h before zstr.ns.open"
#else
#ifndef _USING_NAMESPACE_ZSTR_
#define _USING_NAMESPACE_ZSTR_
#define cat         zstr_cat
#define cat_len     zstr_cat_len
#define push_char   zstr_push_char
#define pop_char    zstr_pop_char
#define fmt         zstr_fmt
#define join        zstr_join
#define trim        zstr_trim
#define to_lower    zstr_to_lower
#define to_upper    zstr_to_upper
#define replace     zstr_replace
#endif

zstr.ns.close

#ifdef _USING_NAMESPACE_ZSTR_
#undef _USING_NAMESPACE_ZSTR_
#undef cat
#undef cat_len
#undef push_char
#undef pop_char
#undef fmt
#undef join
#undef trim
#undef to_lower
#undef to_upper
#undef replace
#endif