// stretchy_buffer.h - v1.02 - public domain - nothings.org/stb // a vector<>-like dynamic array for C // // version history: // 1.02 - compiles as C++, but untested // 1.01 - added a "common uses" documentation section // 1.0 - fixed bug in the version I posted prematurely // 0.9 - rewrite to try to avoid strict-aliasing optimization // issues, but won't compile as C++ // // Will probably not work correctly with strict-aliasing optimizations. // // The idea: // // This implements an approximation to C++ vector<> for C, in that it // provides a generic definition for dynamic arrays which you can // still access in a typesafe way using arr[i] or *(arr+i). However, // it is simply a convenience wrapper around the common idiom of // of keeping a set of variables (in a struct or globals) which store // - pointer to array // - the length of the "in-use" part of the array // - the current size of the allocated array // // I find it to be single most useful non-built-in-structure when // programming in C (hash tables a close second), but to be clear // it lacks many of the capabilities of C++ vector<>: there is no // range checking, the object address isn't stable (see next section // for details), the set of methods available is small (although // the file stb.h has another implementation of stretchy buffers // called 'stb_arr' which provides more methods, e.g. for insertion // and deletion). // // How to use: // // Unlike other stb header file libraries, there is no need to // define an _IMPLEMENTATION symbol. Every #include creates as // much implementation is needed. // // stretchy_buffer.h does not define any types, so you do not // need to #include it to before defining data types that are // stretchy buffers, only in files that *manipulate* stretchy // buffers. // // If you want a stretchy buffer aka dynamic array containing // objects of TYPE, declare such an array as: // // TYPE *myarray = NULL; // // (There is no typesafe way to distinguish between stretchy // buffers and regular arrays/pointers; this is necessary to // make ordinary array indexing work on these objects.) // // Unlike C++ vector<>, the stretchy_buffer has the same // semantics as an object that you manually malloc and realloc. // The pointer may relocate every time you add a new object // to it, so you: // // 1. can't take long-term pointers to elements of the array // 2. have to return the pointer from functions which might expand it // (either as a return value or by passing it back) // // Now you can do the following things with this array: // // sb_free(TYPE *a) free the array // sb_count(TYPE *a) the number of elements in the array // sb_push(TYPE *a, TYPE v) adds v on the end of the array, a la push_back // sb_add(TYPE *a, int n) adds n uninitialized elements at end of array & returns pointer to first added // sb_last(TYPE *a) returns an lvalue of the last item in the array // a[n] access the nth (counting from 0) element of the array // // #define STRETCHY_BUFFER_NO_SHORT_NAMES to only export // names of the form 'stb_sb_' if you have a name that would // otherwise collide. // // Note that these are all macros and many of them evaluate // their arguments more than once, so the arguments should // be side-effect-free. // // Note that 'TYPE *a' in sb_push and sb_add must be lvalues // so that the library can overwrite the existing pointer if // the object has to be reallocated. // // In an out-of-memory condition, the code will try to // set up a null-pointer or otherwise-invalid-pointer // exception to happen later. It's possible optimizing // compilers could detect this write-to-null statically // and optimize away some of the code, but it should only // be along the failure path. Nevertheless, for more security // in the face of such compilers, #define STRETCHY_BUFFER_OUT_OF_MEMORY // to a statement such as assert(0) or exit(1) or something // to force a failure when out-of-memory occurs. // // Common use: // // The main application for this is when building a list of // things with an unknown quantity, either due to loading from // a file or through a process which produces an unpredictable // number. // // My most common idiom is something like: // // SomeStruct *arr = NULL; // while (something) // { // SomeStruct new_one; // new_one.whatever = whatever; // new_one.whatup = whatup; // new_one.foobar = barfoo; // sb_push(arr, new_one); // } // // and various closely-related factorings of that. For example, // you might have several functions to create/init new SomeStructs, // and if you use the above idiom, you might prefer to make them // return structs rather than take non-const-pointers-to-structs, // so you can do things like: // // SomeStruct *arr = NULL; // while (something) // { // if (case_A) { // sb_push(arr, some_func1()); // } else if (case_B) { // sb_push(arr, some_func2()); // } else { // sb_push(arr, some_func3()); // } // } // // Note that the above relies on the fact that sb_push doesn't // evaluate its second argument more than once. The macros do // evaluate the *array* argument multiple times, and numeric // arguments may be evaluated multiple times, but you can rely // on the second argument of sb_push being evaluated only once. // // Of course, you don't have to store bare objects in the array; // if you need the objects to have stable pointers, store an array // of pointers instead: // // SomeStruct **arr = NULL; // while (something) // { // SomeStruct *new_one = malloc(sizeof(*new_one)); // new_one->whatever = whatever; // new_one->whatup = whatup; // new_one->foobar = barfoo; // sb_push(arr, new_one); // } // // How it works: // // A long-standing tradition in things like malloc implementations // is to store extra data before the beginning of the block returned // to the user. The stretchy buffer implementation here uses the // same trick; the current-count and current-allocation-size are // stored before the beginning of the array returned to the user. // (This means you can't directly free() the pointer, because the // allocated pointer is different from the type-safe pointer provided // to the user.) // // The details are trivial and implementation is straightforward; // the main trick is in realizing in the first place that it's // possible to do this in a generic, type-safe way in C. // // LICENSE // // This software is dual-licensed to the public domain and under the following // license. You are granted a perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, // distribute, and modify this file as you see fit. #ifndef STB_STRETCHY_BUFFER_H_INCLUDED #define STB_STRETCHY_BUFFER_H_INCLUDED #ifndef NO_STRETCHY_BUFFER_SHORT_NAMES #define sb_free stb_sb_free #define sb_push stb_sb_push #define sb_count stb_sb_count #define sb_add stb_sb_add #define sb_last stb_sb_last #endif #define stb_sb_free(a) ((a) ? free(stb__sbraw(a)),0 : 0) #define stb_sb_push(a,v) (stb__sbmaybegrow(a,1), (a)[stb__sbn(a)++] = (v)) #define stb_sb_count(a) ((a) ? stb__sbn(a) : 0) #define stb_sb_add(a,n) (stb__sbmaybegrow(a,n), stb__sbn(a)+=(n), &(a)[stb__sbn(a)-(n)]) #define stb_sb_last(a) ((a)[stb__sbn(a)-1]) #define stb__sbraw(a) ((int *) (a) - 2) #define stb__sbm(a) stb__sbraw(a)[0] #define stb__sbn(a) stb__sbraw(a)[1] #define stb__sbneedgrow(a,n) ((a)==0 || stb__sbn(a)+(n) >= stb__sbm(a)) #define stb__sbmaybegrow(a,n) (stb__sbneedgrow(a,(n)) ? stb__sbgrow(a,n) : 0) #define stb__sbgrow(a,n) ((a) = stb__sbgrowf((a), (n), sizeof(*(a)))) #include static void * stb__sbgrowf(void *arr, int increment, int itemsize) { int dbl_cur = arr ? 2*stb__sbm(arr) : 0; int min_needed = stb_sb_count(arr) + increment; int m = dbl_cur > min_needed ? dbl_cur : min_needed; int *p = (int *) realloc(arr ? stb__sbraw(arr) : 0, itemsize * m + sizeof(int)*2); if (p) { if (!arr) p[1] = 0; p[0] = m; return p+2; } else { #ifdef STRETCHY_BUFFER_OUT_OF_MEMORY STRETCHY_BUFFER_OUT_OF_MEMORY ; #endif return (void *) (2*sizeof(int)); // try to force a NULL pointer exception later } } #endif // STB_STRETCHY_BUFFER_H_INCLUDED