mirror of https://github.com/nothings/stb.git
140 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
140 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
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FAQ
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---
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#### What's the license?
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These libraries are in the public domain (or the equivalent where that is not
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possible). You can do anything you want with them. You have no legal obligation
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to do anything else, although I appreciate attribution.
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#### Are there other single-file public-domain libraries out there? <a name="other_libs"></a>
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Yes. I'll even tell you about some. However, I haven't used most of these libraries
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and can't comment on their quality. (If you use them and aren't their author, feel
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free to tell me about their quality.)
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- [jo_gif.cpp](http://www.jonolick.com/home/gif-writer): tiny GIF writer (public domain)
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- [gif.h](https://github.com/ginsweater/gif-h): animated GIF writer (public domain)
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- [tiny_jpeg.h](https://github.com/serge-rgb/TinyJPEG/blob/master/tiny_jpeg.h): JPEG encoder (public domain)
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- [lodepng](http://lodev.org/lodepng/): PNG encoder/decoder (zlib license)
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- [nanoSVG](https://github.com/memononen/nanosvg): 1-file SVG parser; 1-file SVG rasterizer (zlib license)
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- [tinyobjloader](https://github.com/syoyo/tinyobjloader): wavefront OBJ file loader (BSD license)
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- [sdf.h](https://github.com/memononen/SDF): compute signed-distance field from antialiased image (MIT license)
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- [nv_voronoi.h](http://www.icculus.org/~mordred/nvlib/): find voronoi regions on lattice w/ integer inputs (public domain)
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- [nanoflann](https://github.com/jlblancoc/nanoflann): build KD trees for point clouds (BSD license)
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- [SLRE](https://github.com/cesanta/slre): regular expression matcher (GPL v2)
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- [DG_misc.h](https://github.com/DanielGibson/Snippets/): Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings (public domain)
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- [MakeID.h](http://www.humus.name/3D/MakeID.h): allocate/deallocate small integer IDs efficiently (public domain)
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- [utest](https://github.com/evolutional/utest): unit testing (MIT license)
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- [catch](https://github.com/philsquared/Catch): unit testing (Boost license)
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- [zed_net](https://github.com/ZedZull/zed_net): cross-platform socket wrapper (public domain)
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There are some that have a source file and require a separate header file (which they may
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not even supply). That's twice as many files, and we at nothings/stb cannot condone
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this! But you might like them anyway:
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- [pempek_assert.cpp](https://github.com/gpakosz/Assert/tree/master/src): C++ flexible assertions in C++ (WTFPL v2 license)
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- [whereami](https://github.com/gpakosz/whereami): get path/filename of executable (WTFPL v2 license)
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- [picopng.cpp](http://lodev.org/lodepng/picopng.cpp): tiny PNG loader (zlib license)
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- [jpeg-compressor](https://github.com/richgel999/jpeg-compressor): 2-file jpeg compress, 2-file jpeg decompress (public domain)
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- [lz4](https://github.com/Cyan4973/lz4): fast but larger LZ compression (BSD license)
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- [fastlz](https://code.google.com/p/fastlz/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk): fast but larger LZ compression (MIT license)
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- [tinyexr](https://github.com/syoyo/tinyexr): EXR image read/write, uses miniz internally (BSD license)
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- [miniz.c](https://github.com/richgel999/miniz): zlib compression,decompression, zip file, png writing (public domain)
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- [Remotery](https://github.com/Celtoys/Remotery): CPU/GPU profiler Win/Mac/Linux, using web browser for viewer (Apache 2.0 license)
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- [MicroProfile](https://bitbucket.org/jonasmeyer/microprofile): CPU (and GPU?) profiler, 1-3 header files (unlicense)
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- [Clipper](http://www.angusj.com/delphi/clipper.php): line & polygon clipping & offsetting (Boost license)
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- [json.h](https://github.com/sheredom/json.h): JSON parser (public domain)
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- [Zange](https://github.com/vurtun/zange/blob/master/json.c): another JSON parser (MIT license)
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- [yocto](https://github.com/tom-seddon/yhs): non-production-use http server (public domain)
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- [happyhttp](http://scumways.com/happyhttp/happyhttp.html): http client requests (zlib license)
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- [tigr](https://bitbucket.org/rmitton/tigr/src): quick-n-dirty window text/graphics for Windows (public domain)
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There is also this XML library, but if you're using XML, shame on you:
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- [tinyxml2](https://github.com/leethomason/tinyxml2): XML (zlib license)
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#### If I wrap an stb library in a new library, does the new library have to be public domain?
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No.
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#### A lot of these libraries seem redundant to existing open source libraries. Are they better somehow?
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Generally they're only better in that they're easier to integrate,
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easier to use, and easier to release (single file; good API; no
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attribution requirement). They may be less featureful, slower,
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and/or use more memory. If you're already using an equivalent
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library, there's probably no good reason to switch.
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#### Why do you list "lines of code"? It's a terrible metric.
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Just to give you some idea of the internal complexity of the library,
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to help you manage your expectations, or to let you know what you're
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getting into. While not all the libraries are written in the same
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style, they're certainly similar styles, and so comparisons between
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the libraries are probably still meaningful.
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Note though that the lines do include both the implementation, the
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part that corresponds to a header file, and the documentation.
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#### Why single-file headers?
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Windows doesn't have standard directories where libraries
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live. That makes deploying libraries in Windows a lot more
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painful than open source developers on Unix-derivates generally
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realize. (It also makes library dependencies a lot worse in Windows.)
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There's also a common problem in Windows where a library was built
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against a different version of the runtime library, which causes
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link conflicts and confusion. Shipping the libs as headers means
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you normally just compile them straight into your project without
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making libraries, thus sidestepping that problem.
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Making them a single file makes it very easy to just
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drop them into a project that needs them. (Of course you can
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still put them in a proper shared library tree if you want.)
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Why not two files, one a header and one an implementation?
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The difference between 10 files and 9 files is not a big deal,
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but the difference between 2 files and 1 file is a big deal.
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You don't need to zip or tar the files up, you don't have to
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remember to attach *two* files, etc.
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#### Why "stb"? Is this something to do with Set-Top Boxes?
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No, they are just the initials for my name, Sean T. Barrett.
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This was not chosen out of egomania, but as a moderately sane
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way of namespacing the filenames and source function names.
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#### Will you add more image types to stb_image.c?
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If people submit them, I generally add them, but the goal of stb_image
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is less for applications like image viewer apps (which need to support
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every type of image under the sun) and more for things like games which
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can choose what images to use, so I may decline to add them if they're
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too rare or if the size of implementation vs. apparent benefit is too low.
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#### Do you have any advice on how to create my own single-file library?
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Yes. https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/docs/stb_howto.txt
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#### Why public domain?
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I prefer it over GPL, LGPL, BSD, zlib, etc. for many reasons.
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Some of them are listed here:
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https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/docs/why_public_domain.md
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#### Why C?
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Primarily, because I use C, not C++. But it does also make it easier
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for other people to use them from other languages.
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#### Why not C99? stdint.h, declare-anywhere, etc.
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I still use MSVC 6 (1998) as my IDE because it has better human factors
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for me than later versions of MSVC.
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