stb

single-file public domain libraries for C/C++

library	lastest version	category	LoC	description
stb_vorbis.c	1.06	audio	5441	decode ogg vorbis files from file/memory to float/16-bit signed output
stb_image.h	2.08	graphics	6509	image loading/decoding from file/memory: JPG, PNG, TGA, BMP, PSD, GIF, HDR, PIC
stb_truetype.h	1.08	graphics	3235	parse, decode, and rasterize characters from truetype fonts
stb_image_write.h	0.99	graphics	843	image writing to disk: PNG, TGA, BMP
stb_image_resize.h	0.90	graphics	2586	resize images larger/smaller with good quality
stb_rect_pack.h	0.08	graphics	572	simple 2D rectangle packer with decent quality
stretchy_buffer.h	1.02	utility	216	typesafe dynamic array for C (i.e. approximation to vector<>), doesn't compile as C++
stb_textedit.h	1.7	UI	1301	guts of a text editor for games etc implementing them from scratch
stb_voxel_render.h	0.83	3D graphics	3750	Minecraft-esque voxel rendering "engine" with many more features
stb_dxt.h	1.04	3D graphics	630	Fabian "ryg" Giesen's real-time DXT compressor
stb_perlin.h	0.2	3D graphics	182	revised Perlin noise (3D input, 1D output)
stb_easy_font.h	0.6	3D graphics	232	quick-and-dirty easy-to-deploy bitmap font for printing frame rate, etc
stb_tilemap_editor.h	0.36	game dev	4127	embeddable tilemap editor
stb_herringbone_wa...	0.6	game dev	1220	herringbone Wang tile map generator
stb_c_lexer.h	0.06	parsing	815	simplify writing parsers for C-like languages
stb_divide.h	0.91	math	379	more useful 32-bit modulus e.g. "euclidean divide"
stb.h	2.25	misc	14136	helper functions for C, mostly redundant in C++; basically author's personal stuff
stb_leakcheck.h	0.2	misc	124	quick-and-dirty malloc/free leak-checking

Total libraries: 18
Total lines of C code: 46298

FAQ

What's the license?

These libraries are in the public domain (or the equivalent where that is not possible). You can do anything you want with them. You have no legal obligation to do anything else, although I appreciate attribution.

Are there other single-file public-domain libraries out there?

Yes. I'll even tell you about some. However, I haven't used most of these libraries and can't comment on their quality. (If you use them and aren't their author, feel free to tell me about their quality.)

• jo_gif.cpp: tiny GIF writer (public domain)
• gif.h: animated GIF writer (public domain)
• tiny_jpeg.h: JPEG encoder (public domain)
• lodepng: PNG encoder/decoder (zlib license)
• nanoSVG: 1-file SVG parser; 1-file SVG rasterizer (zlib license)
• tinyobjloader: wavefront OBJ file loader (BSD license)
• sdf.h: compute signed-distance field from antialiased image (MIT license)
• nv_voronoi.h: find voronoi regions on lattice w/ integer inputs (public domain)
• nanoflann: build KD trees for point clouds (BSD license)
• SLRE: regular expression matcher (GPL v2)
• DG_misc.h: Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings (public domain)
• MakeID.h: allocate/deallocate small integer IDs efficiently (public domain)
• utest: unit testing (MIT license)
• catch: unit testing (Boost license)
• zed_net: cross-platform socket wrapper (public domain)

There are some that have a source file and require a separate header file (which they may not even supply). That's twice as many files, and we at nothings/stb cannot condone this! But you might like them anyway:

• pempek_assert.cpp: C++ flexible assertions in C++ (WTFPL v2 license)
• whereami: get path/filename of executable (WTFPL v2 license)
• picopng.cpp: tiny PNG loader (zlib license)
• jpeg-compressor: 2-file jpeg compress, 2-file jpeg decompress (public domain)
• lz4: fast but larger LZ compression (BSD license)
• fastlz: fast but larger LZ compression (MIT license)
• tinyexr: EXR image read/write, uses miniz internally (BSD license)
• miniz.c: zlib compression,decompression, zip file, png writing (public domain)
• Remotery: CPU/GPU profiler Win/Mac/Linux, using web browser for viewer (Apache 2.0 license)
• MicroProfile: CPU (and GPU?) profiler, 1-3 header files (unlicense)
• Clipper: line & polygon clipping & offsetting (Boost license)
• json.h: JSON parser (public domain)
• Zange: another JSON parser (MIT license)
• yocto: non-production-use http server (public domain)
• happyhttp: http client requests (zlib license)
• tigr: quick-n-dirty window text/graphics for Windows (public domain)

There is also this XML library, but if you're using XML, shame on you:

• tinyxml2: XML (zlib license)

If I wrap an stb library in a new library, does the new library have to be public domain?

No.

A lot of these libraries seem redundant to existing open source libraries. Are they better somehow?

Generally they're only better in that they're easier to integrate, easier to use, and easier to release (single file; good API; no attribution requirement). They may be less featureful, slower, and/or use more memory. If you're already using an equivalent library, there's probably no good reason to switch.

Why do you list "lines of code"? It's a terrible metric.

Just to give you some idea of the internal complexity of the library, to help you manage your expectations, or to let you know what you're getting into. While not all the libraries are written in the same style, they're certainly similar styles, and so comparisons between the libraries are probably still meaningful.

Note though that the lines do include both the implementation, the part that corresponds to a header file, and the documentation.

Why single-file headers?

Windows doesn't have standard directories where libraries live. That makes deploying libraries in Windows a lot more painful than open source developers on Unix-derivates generally realize. (It also makes library dependencies a lot worse in Windows.)

There's also a common problem in Windows where a library was built against a different version of the runtime library, which causes link conflicts and confusion. Shipping the libs as headers means you normally just compile them straight into your project without making libraries, thus sidestepping that problem.

Making them a single file makes it very easy to just drop them into a project that needs them. (Of course you can still put them in a proper shared library tree if you want.)

Why not two files, one a header and one an implementation? The difference between 10 files and 9 files is not a big deal, but the difference between 2 files and 1 file is a big deal. You don't need to zip or tar the files up, you don't have to remember to attach two files, etc.

Why "stb"? Is this something to do with Set-Top Boxes?

No, they are just the initials for my name, Sean T. Barrett. This was not chosen out of egomania, but as a moderately sane way of namespacing the filenames and source function names.

Will you add more image types to stb_image.c?

If people submit them, I generally add them, but the goal of stb_image is less for applications like image viewer apps (which need to support every type of image under the sun) and more for things like games which can choose what images to use, so I may decline to add them if they're too rare or if the size of implementation vs. apparent benefit is too low.

Do you have any advice on how to create my own single-file library?

Yes. https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/docs/stb_howto.txt

Why public domain?

I prefer it over GPL, LGPL, BSD, zlib, etc. for many reasons. Some of them are listed here: https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/docs/why_public_domain.md

Why C?

Primarily, because I use C, not C++. But it does also make it easier for other people to use them from other languages.

Why not C99? stdint.h, declare-anywhere, etc.

I still use MSVC 6 (1998) as my IDE because it has better human factors for me than later versions of MSVC.