STC

A modern, user friendly, generic, type-safe and fast C99 container library: String, Vector, Sorted and Unordered Map and Set, Deque, Forward List, Smart Pointers, Bitset and Random numbers.

stclib
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C

STC

STC - Smart Template Containers

Version 5.0 beta 4

  • New shorthand template parameter i_TYPE lets you define i_type, i_key, and i_val all in one line.
  • c_filter(C, cnt, filters) replaces c_forfilter (it, C, cnt, filter) loop: Changed to a more “pure” functional programming call.
  • Renamed templated STC headers (old header names deprecated). Default container names corresponds to new header names:
    • vec.h (from cvec.h)
    • deq.h (from cdeq.h)
    • list.h (from clist.h)
    • stack.h (from cstack.h)
    • queue.h (from cqueue.h)
    • pque.h (from cpque.h)
    • hmap.h (from cmap.h)
    • hset.h (from cset.h)
    • smap.h (from csmap.h)
    • sset.h (from csset.h)
    • types.h (from forward.h)
    • NOTE: Deprecated headers will be removed from STC V5.0!

Description

STC is a modern, typesafe, fast and compact container and algorithms library for C99.
The API naming is similar to C++ STL, but it takes inspiration from Rust and Python as well.
The library handles everything from trivial to highly complex data using templates.

Containers

Algorithms

List of contents

Highlights

  • Minimal boilerplate code - Specify only the required template parameters, and leave the rest as defaults.
  • Fully type safe - Because of templating, it avoids error-prone casting of container types and elements back and forth from the containers.
  • High performance - Unordered maps and sets, queues and deques are significantly faster than the C++ STL containers, the remaining are similar or close to STL in speed (See graph below).
  • Fully memory managed - Containers destructs keys/values via default or user supplied drop function. They may be cloned if element types are clonable. Also, smart pointers are supported and can be stored in containers. See arc and box.
  • Uniform, easy-to-learn API - Just include the headers and you are good. The API and functionality resembles c++ STL and is fully listed in the docs. Intuitive method/type names and uniform usage across the various containers.
  • No signed/unsigned mixing - Unsigned sizes and indices mixed with signed for comparison and calculation is asking for trouble. STC only uses signed numbers in the API for this reason.
  • Small footprint - Small source code and generated executables. The executable from the example below using four different container types is only 19 Kb in size compiled with gcc -O3 -s on Linux.
  • Dual mode compilation - By default it is a simple header-only library with inline and static methods only, but you can easily switch to create a traditional library with shared symbols, without changing existing source files. See the installation section.
  • No callback functions - All passed template argument functions/macros are directly called from the implementation, no slow callbacks which requires storage.
  • Compiles with C++ and C99 - C code can be compiled with C++ (container element types must be POD).
  • Forward declaration - Templated containers may be forward declared without including the full API/implementation.
  • Extendable containers - STC provides a mechanism to wrap containers inside a struct with custom data per instance.

STC is unique!

  1. Centralized analysis of template parameters. The analyser assigns values to all
    non-specified template parameters (based on the specified ones) using meta-programming, so
    that you don’t have to! You may specify a set of “standard” template parameters for each
    container, but as a minimum only one is required: i_key (+ i_val for maps). In this
    case, STC assumes that the elements are of basic types. For non-trivial types, additional
    template parameters must be given.
  2. Alternative insert/lookup type. You may specify an alternative type to use for
    lookup in containers. E.g., containers with STC string elements (cstr) uses const char*
    as lookup type, so constructing a cstr (which may allocate memory) for the lookup
    is not needed. Hence, the alternative lookup key does not need to be destroyed after use,
    as it is normally a POD type. Finally, the key may be passed to an emplace-function.
    So instead of calling e.g. vec_str_push(&vec, cstr_from("Hello")), you may call
    vec_str_emplace(&vec, "Hello"), which is functionally identical, but more convenient.
  3. Standardized container iterators. All containers can be iterated in the same manner, and all use the
    same element access syntax. E.g.:
    • c_foreach (it, MyInts, myints) *it.ref += 42; works for any container defined as
      MyInts with int elements.
    • c_foreach (it, MyInts, it1, it2) *it.ref += 42; iterates from it1 up to not including it2.

Performance

STC is a fast and memory efficient library, and code compiles fast:

Benchmark

Benchmark notes:

  • The barchart shows average test times over three compilers: Mingw64 13.1.0, Win-Clang 16.0.5, VC-19-36. CPU: Ryzen 7 5700X.
  • Containers uses value types uint64_t and pairs of uint64_t for the maps.
  • Black bars indicates performance variation between various platforms/compilers.
  • Iterations and access are repeated 4 times over n elements.
  • access: no entryfor forward_list, deque, and vector because these c++ containers does not have native find().
  • deque: insert: n/3 push_front(), n/3 push_back()+pop_front(), n/3 push_back().
  • map and unordered map: insert: n/2 random numbers, n/2 sequential numbers. erase: n/2 keys in the map, n/2 random keys.

Naming conventions

  • Non-templated container names are prefixed by c, e.g. cstr, cbits, cregex.

  • Public STC macros and “keywords” are prefixed by c_, e.g. c_foreach, c_init.

  • Template parameter macros are prefixed by i_, e.g. i_key, i_type.

  • All owning containers can be initialized with {0} (also cstr), i.e. no heap allocation initially.

  • Common types for a container type Cont:

    • Cont
    • Cont_value
    • Cont_raw
    • Cont_iter

  • Functions that are available for most all containers:

    • Cont_init()
    • Cont_reserve(&con, capacity)
    • Cont_drop(&con)
    • Cont_empty(&con) // check if empty
    • Cont_size(&con)
    • Cont_clone(con)
    • Cont_push(&con, value)
    • Cont_emplace(&con, rawval)
    • Cont_erase_at(&con, iter)
    • Cont_front(&con)
    • Cont_back(&con)
    • Cont_begin(&con)
    • Cont_end(&con)
    • Cont_next(&iter)
    • Cont_advance(iter, n)

Usage

STC containers have similar functionality to the C++ STL standard containers. All containers except for a few,
like cstr and cbits are generic/templated. No type casting is used, so containers are type-safe like
templated types in C++. However, to specify template parameters with STC, you define them as macros prior to
including the container, e.g.

#define i_TYPE Floats, float // Container type (name, element type)
#include "stc/vec.h"         // "instantiate" the desired container type
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    Floats nums = {0};
    Floats_push(&nums, 30.f);
    Floats_push(&nums, 10.f);
    Floats_push(&nums, 20.f);

    for (int i = 0; i < Floats_size(&nums); ++i)
        printf(" %g", nums.data[i]);

    c_foreach (i, Floats, nums)     // Alternative and recommended way to iterate.
        printf(" %g", *i.ref);      // i.ref is a pointer to the current element.

    Floats_drop(&nums); // cleanup memory
}

Note that i_val* template parameters can be used instead of i_key* for non-map containers.

Switching to a different container type, e.g. a sorted set (sset):

[ Run this code ]

#define i_TYPE Floats, float
#include "stc/sset.h" // Use a sorted set instead
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    Floats nums = {0};
    Floats_push(&nums, 30.f);
    Floats_push(&nums, 10.f);
    Floats_push(&nums, 20.f);

    // print the numbers (sorted)
    c_foreach (i, Floats, nums)
        printf(" %g", *i.ref);

    Floats_drop(&nums);
}

Comparison/lookup functions are enabled by default for associative containers and priority queue (hmap, hset, smap, sset, pque). To enable it for the remaining containers, define i_cmp or i_less (and optionally i_eq) on the element type. If the element is an integral type, simply define i_use_cmp to use < and == operators for comparisons.

Note that for #define i_key_class Type, defining i_use_cmp means that Type_cmp() function is expected to exist (along with Type_clone() and Type_drop()).

To summarize, i_use_cmp is only needed to enable comparison (sort/search) functions when defining stack, vec, queue, deq, arc, box. With built-in types, it enables the comparison operators, whereas for keyclass types, it binds comparison to its Type_cmp() function.

If an element destructor i_keydrop is defined, i_keyclone function is required.
Alternatively #define i_opt c_no_clone to disable container cloning.

Let’s make a vector of vectors, which can be cloned. All of its element vectors will be destroyed when destroying the Vec2D.

[ Run this code ]

#include <stdio.h>

#define i_TYPE Vec, float
#include "stc/vec.h"

#define i_type Vec2D
#define i_key_class Vec  // Use i_key_class instead i_key when element type has "members" _clone(), _drop() and _cmp().
#include "stc/vec.h"

int main(void)
{
    Vec* v;
    Vec2D vec = {0};                  // All containers in STC can be initialized with {0}.
    v = Vec2D_push(&vec, Vec_init()); // push() returns a pointer to the new element in vec.
    Vec_push(v, 10.f);
    Vec_push(v, 20.f);

    v = Vec2D_push(&vec, Vec_init());
    Vec_push(v, 30.f);
    Vec_push(v, 40.f);

    Vec2D clone = Vec2D_clone(vec);   // Make a deep-copy of vec

    c_foreach (i, Vec2D, clone)       // Loop through the cloned vector
        c_foreach (j, Vec, *i.ref)
            printf(" %g", *j.ref);

    c_drop(Vec2D, &vec, &clone);      // Cleanup all (6) vectors.
}

This example uses four different container types:

[ Run this code ]

#include <stdio.h>

#define i_key int
#include "stc/hset.h"   // hset_int: unordered/hash set (assume i_key is basic type, uses `==` operator)

struct Point { float x, y; };
// Define cvec_pnt and enable linear search by defining i_eq
#define i_TYPE vec_pnt, struct Point
#define i_eq(a, b) (a->x == b->x && a->y == b->y)
#include "stc/vec.h"    // vec_pnt: vector of struct Point

#define i_key int
#define i_use_cmp       // enable sort/search. Use native `<` and `==` operators
#include "stc/list.h"   // list_int: singly linked list

#define i_TYPE smap_int, int, int
#include "stc/smap.h"  // sorted map int => int

int main(void)
{
    // Define four empty containers
    hset_int set = {0};
    vec_pnt vec = {0};
    list_int lst = {0};
    smap_int map = {0};

    c_defer( // Drop the containers at scope exit
        hset_int_drop(&set),
        vec_pnt_drop(&vec),
        list_int_drop(&lst),
        smap_int_drop(&map)
    ){
        enum{N = 5};
        int nums[N] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
        struct Point pts[N] = { {10, 1}, {20, 2}, {30, 3}, {40, 4}, {50, 5} };
        int pairs[N][2] = { {20, 2}, {10, 1}, {30, 3}, {40, 4}, {50, 5} };

        // Add some elements to each container
        for (int i = 0; i < N; ++i) {
            hset_int_insert(&set, nums[i]);
            vec_pnt_push(&vec, pts[i]);
            list_int_push_back(&lst, nums[i]);
            smap_int_insert(&map, pairs[i][0], pairs[i][1]);
        }

        // Find an element in each container
        hset_int_iter i1 = hset_int_find(&set, 20);
        vec_pnt_iter i2 = vec_pnt_find(&vec, (struct Point){20, 2});
        list_int_iter i3 = list_int_find(&lst, 20);
        smap_int_iter i4 = smap_int_find(&map, 20);

        printf("\nFound: %d, (%g, %g), %d, [%d: %d]\n",
                *i1.ref, i2.ref->x, i2.ref->y, *i3.ref,
                i4.ref->first, i4.ref->second);

        // Erase all the elements found
        hset_int_erase_at(&set, i1);
        vec_pnt_erase_at(&vec, i2);
        list_int_erase_at(&lst, i3);
        smap_int_erase_at(&map, i4);

        printf("After erasing the elements found:");
        printf("\n set:");
        c_foreach (i, hset_int, set)
            printf(" %d", *i.ref);

        printf("\n vec:");
        c_foreach (i, vec_pnt, vec)
            printf(" (%g, %g)", i.ref->x, i.ref->y);

        printf("\n lst:");
        c_foreach (i, list_int, lst)
            printf(" %d", *i.ref);

        printf("\n map:");
        c_foreach (i, smap_int, map)
            printf(" [%d: %d]", i.ref->first, i.ref->second);
    }
}

Output

Found: 20, (20, 2), 20, [20: 2]
After erasing the elements found:
 set: 40 10 30 50
 vec: (10, 1) (30, 3) (40, 4) (50, 5)
 lst: 10 30 40 50
 map: [10: 1] [30: 3] [40: 4] [50: 5]

Installation

STC is primarily a “headers-only” library, so most headers can simply be included in your program. By default,
all templated functions are static (many inlined). This is often optimal for both performance and compiled
binary size. However, if container type instances, e.g. a vec_int is used used in several translation units,
(e.g. more than 3-4 TUs), consider creating a separate header file for them and link it shared as described here. In this case, one (of the) c-file must implement the templated container, e.g.:

#define i_implement // define shared symbols
#include "vec_int.h"

Note that the non-templated string types cstr, csview uses shared linking by default (may use static linking by
#define i_static before include). Most functions in csview are inlined though, and the zero-terminated string view,
czview is fully inlined.

Conveniently, src\libstc.c implements all the non-templated functions with shared linking for cstr,
csview, cregex, utf8, and crand.

Additionally, #define i_import works as i_implement for cregex or cstr, but it will also implement
the dependent utf8 functions (utf8 case conversions, etc.). Or you can simply link with libstc.

Specifying template parameters

Each templated type requires one #include, even if it’s the same container base type, as described earlier.
The template parameters are given by a #define i_xxxx statement, where xxxx is the parameter name.
The list of template parameters:

  • i_TYPE ConType, KeyType[, ValType] is a shorthand for defining i_type, i_key and i_val on one line.
  • i_type ConType - Custom container type name.
  • i_key Type - Element key type. [required]. Note: i_val may be used instead for non-maps (not recommended).
  • i_val Type - Element value type. [required for] hmap/smap as the mapped value type.
  • i_cmp Func - Three-way comparison of two i_keyraw* - [required for] non-integral i_keyraw elements, but also see i_use_cmp.
  • i_hash Func - Hash function taking i_keyraw* - defaults to c_default_hash. [required for] hmap/hset with non-POD i_keyraw elements.
  • i_eq Func - Equality comparison of two i_keyraw* - defaults to !i_cmp. Companion with i_hash.

Properties:

  • i_opt Flags - Boolean properties: may combine c_no_clone, c_no_atomic, c_is_forward, c_static, c_header with the | separator.

Key:

  • i_keydrop Func - Destroy map/set key func - defaults to empty destructor.
  • i_keyclone Func - [required if] i_keydrop is defined (exception for arc, as it shares).
  • i_keyraw Type - Convertion “raw” type - defaults to i_key.
  • i_keyfrom Func - Convertion func i_key <= i_keyraw.
  • i_keyto Func - Convertion func i_key* => i_keyraw. [required if] i_keyraw is defined

Val: (hmap/smap mapped value only)

  • i_valdrop Func - Destroy mapped or value func - defaults to empty destruct.
  • i_valclone Func - [required if] i_valdrop is defined.
  • i_valraw Type - Convertion “raw” type - defaults to i_val.
  • i_valfrom Func - Convertion func i_val <= i_valraw.
  • i_valto Func - Convertion func i_val* => i_valraw.

Specials: Meta-template parameters. Use instead of i_key / i_val.

  • i_key_class Type - Auto-set standard named functions: Type_clone(), Type_drop(), Type_cmp(), Type_eq(), Type_hash().
    If i_keyraw is defined, it sets i_keyto = Type_toraw() and i_keyfrom = Type_from().
    Only functions required by the container type is required to be defined. E.g.:
    • Type_hash() and Type_eq() are only required by hmap, hset and smart pointers.
    • Type_cmp() is not used by stack and hmap/hset.
    • Type_clone() is not used if #define i_opt c_no_clone is specified.
  • i_key_str - Sets i_key_class = cstr, i_tag = str, and i_keyraw = const char*. Defines both type convertion
    i_keyfrom, i_keyto, and sets i_cmp, i_eq, i_hash functions with const char** as argument.
  • i_key_ssv - Sets i_key_class = cstr, i_tag = ssv, and i_keyraw = csview*. Defines both type convertion
    i_keyfrom, i_keyto, and sets i_cmp, i_eq, i_hash functions with csview* as argument.
  • i_key_arcbox Type - Use when Type is a smart pointer arc or box. Defines i_key_class = Type, and i_keyraw = Type*.
    NB: Do not use when defining arc/box types themselves.
  • i_val_class Type, i_val_str, i_val_ssv, i_val_arcbox - Similar rules as for key.

Notes:

  • Instead of defining i_*clone, you may define i_opt c_no_clone to disable clone functionality.
  • For i_key_class, if i_keyraw is defined along with it, i_keyfrom may also be defined to enable the emplace-functions. NB: the signature for cmp, eq, and hash uses i_keyraw as input.

Specifying comparison parameters

The table below shows the template parameters which must be defined to support element search and sort for various containers versus element types.

For the containers marked optional, the features are disabled if the template parameter(s) are not defined. Note that the (integral type) columns also applies to “special” types, specified with i_key_str, i_key_arcbox, and i_key_class, and not only true integral types like int or float.

Container find (integral type) sort (integral type) | find (struct elem) sort (struct elem) optional
stack, queue n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
vec, deq, list i_use_cmp i_use_cmp i_eq i_cmp / i_less yes
box, arc i_use_cmp i_use_cmp i_eq + i_hash i_cmp / i_less yes
hmap, hset n/a i_eq + i_hash n/a no
smap, sset i_cmp / i_less i_cmp / i_less no
pque n/a n/a i_cmp / i_less no

The emplace methods

STC, like c++ STL, has two sets of methods for adding elements to containers. One set begins
with emplace, e.g. vec_X_emplace_back(). This is an ergonimic alternative to
vec_X_push_back() when dealing non-trivial container elements, e.g. strings, shared pointers or
other elements using dynamic memory or shared resources.

The emplace methods constructs / clones the given element when they are added
to the container. In contrast, the non-emplace methods moves the element into the
container.

Note: For containers with integral/trivial element types, or when neither i_keyraw/i_valraw is defined,
the emplace functions are not available (or needed), as it can easier lead to mistakes.

non-emplace: Move emplace: Embedded copy Container
insert(), push() emplace() hmap, smap, hset, sset
insert_or_assign() emplace_or_assign() hmap, smap
push() emplace() queue, pque, stack
push_back(), push() emplace_back() deq, list, vec
push_front() emplace_front() deq, list

Strings are the most commonly used non-trivial data type. STC containers have proper pre-defined
definitions for cstr container elements, so they are fail-safe to use both with the emplace
and non-emplace methods:

#define i_implement     // define in ONE file to implement longer functions in cstr
#include "stc/cstr.h"

#define i_key_str       // special macro to enable container of cstr
#include "stc/vec.h"   // vector of string (cstr)
...
vec_str vec = {0};
cstr s = cstr_lit("a string literal");
const char* hello = "Hello";

vec_str_push(&vec, cstr_from(hello);    // make a cstr from const char* and move it onto vec
vec_str_push(&vec, cstr_clone(s));      // make a cstr clone and move it onto vec

vec_str_emplace(&vec, "Yay, literal");  // internally make a cstr from const char*
vec_str_emplace(&vec, cstr_clone(s));   // <-- COMPILE ERROR: expects const char*
vec_str_emplace(&vec, cstr_str(&s));    // Ok: const char* input type.

cstr_drop(&s)
vec_str_drop(&vec);

This is made possible because the type configuration may be given an optional
conversion/“rawvalue”-type as template parameter, along with a back and forth conversion
methods to the container value type.

Rawvalues are primarily beneficial for lookup and map insertions, however the
emplace methods constructs cstr-objects from the rawvalues, but only when required:

hmap_str_emplace(&map, "Hello", "world");
// Two cstr-objects were constructed by emplace

hmap_str_emplace(&map, "Hello", "again");
// No cstr was constructed because "Hello" was already in the map.

hmap_str_emplace_or_assign(&map, "Hello", "there");
// Only cstr_lit("there") constructed. "world" was destructed and replaced.

hmap_str_insert(&map, cstr_lit("Hello"), cstr_lit("you"));
// Two cstr's constructed outside call, but both destructed by insert
// because "Hello" existed. No mem-leak but less efficient.

it = hmap_str_find(&map, "Hello");
// No cstr constructed for lookup, although keys are cstr-type.

Apart from strings, maps and sets are normally used with trivial value types. However, the
last example on the hmap page demonstrates how to specify a map with non-trivial keys.

The erase methods

Name Description Container
erase() key based smap, sset, hmap, hset, cstr
erase_at() iterator based smap, sset, hmap, hset, vec, deq, list
erase_range() iterator based smap, sset, vec, deq, list
erase_n() index based vec, deq, cstr
remove() remove all matching values list

User-defined container type name

Define i_type instead of i_tag, or i_TYPE to define both i_type and i_key:

#define i_type MyVec
#define i_key int
// #define i_TYPE MyVec,int // shorthand
#include "stc/vec.h"

MyVec vec = {0};
MyVec_push(&vec, 42);
...

Forward declarations

There are two ways to pre-declare templated containers in header files:

  1. Include the templated container type instance as a header file. This also exposes all container
    functions, which can be used by client code. It requires that the element type is complete.
  2. Or, pre-declare the container type only. In this case, the container can be a “private” member of a
    user struct (the container functions will not be available to the user).

1. Include as a header file

Create a dedicated header for the container type instance:

#ifndef PointVec_H_
#define PointVec_H_
// Do not to include user defined headers here if they use templated containers themselves

// NB! struct Point must be complete at this point!
#define i_TYPE PointVec,struct Point
#define i_header    // Do not implement, only expose API
#include "stc/vec.h"

#endif

Usage from e.g. other headers is trivial:

#ifndef Dataset_H_
#define Dataset_H_
#include "Point.h"         // include element type separately
#include "PointVec.h"

typedef struct Dataset {
    PointVec vertices;
    PointVec colors;
} Dataset;
...
#endif

Implement PointVec in a c-file:

#include "Point.h"
#define i_implement        // define immediately before PointVec.h
#include "PointVec.h"
...

2. Forward declare only

// Dataset.h
#ifndef Dataset_H_
#define Dataset_H_
#include "stc/types.h"   // include various container data structure templates

// declare PointVec. Note: struct Point may be an incomplete/undeclared type.
forward_vec(PointVec, struct Point);

typedef struct Dataset {
    PointVec vertices;
    PointVec colors;
} Dataset;

void Dataset_drop(Dataset* self);
...
#endif

Define and use the “private” container in the c-file:

// Dataset.c
#include "Dataset.h"
#include "Point.h"                        // Point must be defined here.

#define i_is_forward                      // flag that the container was forward declared.
#define i_type PointVec
#define i_val struct Point
#include "stc/vec.h"                     // Implements PointVec with static linking by default
...

Per container-instance customization

Sometimes it is useful to extend a container type to store extra data, e.g. a comparison
or allocator function pointer or a context which the function pointers can use. Most
libraries solve this by adding an opaque pointer (void*) or function pointer(s) into
the data structure for the user to manage. This solution has a few disadvantages: the
pointers are not typesafe, and they take up space when not needed. STC solves this by letting
the user create a container wrapper struct where both the container and extra data fields can
be stored. The template parameters may then access the extra data using the “container_of”
technique.

The example below shows how to customize containers to work with PostgreSQL memory management.
It adds a MemoryContext to each container by defining the i_extend template parameter followed
the by inclusion of "stc/extend.h". Note that pgs_realloc and pgs_free is also passed the
allocated size of the given pointer, unlike standard realloc and free.

// stcpgs.h
#define pgs_malloc(sz) MemoryContextAlloc(c_extend()->memctx, sz)
#define pgs_calloc(n, sz) MemoryContextAllocZero(c_extend()->memctx, (n)*(sz))
#define pgs_realloc(p, old_sz, sz) (p ? repalloc(p, sz) : pgs_malloc(sz))
#define pgs_free(p, sz) (p ? pfree(p) : (void)0) // pfree/repalloc does not accept NULL.

#define i_allocator pgs
#define i_no_clone
#define i_extend MemoryContext memctx;
#include "stc/extend.h"

To use it, define both i_type and i_base (the container type) before including the custom header:

#define i_type IMap
#define i_base smap
#define i_key int
#define i_val int
#include "stcpgs.h"

// Note the wrapper struct type is IMap_ext. IMap is accessed by .get
void maptest()
{
    IMap_ext map = {.memctx=CurrentMemoryContext};
    c_forrange (i, 1, 16)
        IMap_insert(&map.get, i*i, i);

    c_foreach (i, IMap, map.get)
        printf("%d:%d ", i.ref->first, i.ref->second);

    IMap_drop(&map.get);
}

Memory efficiency

STC is generally very memory efficient. Memory usage for the different containers:

  • cstr, vec, stack, pque: 1 pointer, 2 intptr_t + memory for elements.
  • csview, 1 pointer, 1 intptr_t. Does not own data!
  • cspan, 1 pointer and 2 * dimension * int32_t. Does not own data!
  • list: Type size: 1 pointer. Each node allocates a struct to store its value and a next pointer.
  • deq, queue: Type size: 2 pointers, 2 intptr_t. Otherwise like vec.
  • hmap/hset: Type size: 2 pointers, 2 int32_t (default). hmap uses one table of keys+value, and one table of precomputed hash-value/used bucket, which occupies only one byte per bucket. The closed hashing has a default max load factor of 85%, and hash table scales by 1.5x when reaching that.
  • smap/sset: Type size: 1 pointer. smap manages its own array of tree-nodes for allocation efficiency. Each node uses two 32-bit ints for child nodes, and one byte for level, but has no parent node.
  • arc: Type size: 1 pointer, 1 long for the reference counter + memory for the shared element.
  • box: Type size: 1 pointer + memory for the pointed-to element.

Version History

Version 4.3

  • Breaking changes:
    • cstr and csview now uses shared linking by default. Implement by either defining i_implement or i_static before including.
    • Renamed “stc/calgo.h” => "stc/algorithm.h"
    • Moved “stc/algo/coroutine.h” => "stc/coroutine.h"
      • Much improved with some new API and added features.
    • Removed deprecated “stc/crandom.h”. Use "stc/crand.h" with the new API.
      • Reverted names _unif and _norm back to _uniform and _normal.
    • Removed default comparison for list, vec and deq:
      • Define i_use_cmp to enable comparison for built-in i_key types (<, ==).
      • Use of i_key_class still expects comparison functions to be defined.
      • Use of i_key_arcbox compares stored pointers instead of pointed to values if comparison not defined.
    • Renamed input enum flags for cregex-functions.
  • cspan: Added column-major order (fortran) multidimensional spans and transposed views (changed representation of strides).
  • All new faster and smaller queue and deq implementations, using a circular buffer.
  • Renamed i_extern => i_import (i_extern deprecated).
    • Define i_import before #include "stc/cstr.h" will also define full utf8 case conversions.
    • Define i_import before #include "stc/cregex.h" will also define cstr + utf8 tables.
  • Renamed c_make() => c_init() macro for initializing containers with element lists. c_make deprecated.
  • Removed deprecated uppercase flow-control macro names.
  • Other smaller additions, bug fixes and improved documentation.

Version 4.2

Version 4.1.1

Major changes:

API changes summary V4.0

  • Added cregex with documentation - powerful regular expressions.
  • Added: c_forfilter: container iteration with “piped” filtering using && operator. 4 built-in filters.
  • Added: crange: number generator type, which can be iterated (e.g. with c_forfilter).
  • Added back coption - command line argument parsing.
  • New + renamed loop iteration/scope macros:
    • c_forlist: macro replacing c_forarray and c_apply. Iterate a compound literal list.
  • Updated cstr, now always takes self as pointer, like all containers except csview.
  • Updated vec, deq, changed *_range* function names.

Changes version 3.8

  • Overhauled some cstr and csview API:
    • Changed cstr_replace*() => cstr_replace_at*(self, pos, len, repl): Replace at specific position.
    • Changed cstr_replace_all() cstr_replace*(self, search, repl, count): Replace count occurences.
    • Renamed cstr_find_from() => cstr_find_at()
    • Renamed cstr_*_u8() => cstr_u8_*()
    • Renamed csview_*_u8() => csview_u8_*()
    • Added cstr_u8_slice() and csview_u8_slice().
    • Removed csview_from_s(): Use cstr_sv(s) instead.
    • Added back file coption.h
    • Simplified cbits usage: all inlined.
    • Updated docs.

Changes version 3.7

  • NB! Changed self argument from value to const pointer on containers (does not apply to cstr):
    • CNT_size(const CNT *self)
    • CNT_capacity(const CNT *self)
    • CNT_empty(const CNT *self)
  • Now both stack and cbits can be used with template i_capacity parameter: #define i_capacity <NUM>. They then use fixed sized arrays, and no heap allocated memory.
  • Renamed cstr_rename_n() => cstr_rename_with_n() as it could be confused with replacing n instances instead of n bytes.
  • Fixed bug in smap.h: begin() on empty map was not fully initialized.

Changes version 3.6

  • Swapped to new cstr (short string optimized, aka SSO). Note that cstr_str(&s) must be used, s.str is no longer usable.
  • Removed redundant size argument to i_hash template parameter and c_default_hash. Please update your code.
  • Added general i_keyclone/i_valclone template parameter: containers of smart pointers (arc, box) now correctly cloned.
  • Allows for i_key* template parameters instead of i_val* for all containers, not only for hset and sset.
  • Optimized c_default_hash(). Therefore c_hash32() and c_hash64() are removed (same speed).
  • Added …_push() and …_emplace() function to all containers to allow for more generic coding.
  • Renamed global PRNGs stc64_random() and stc64_srandom() to crand() and csrand().
  • Added some examples and benchmarks for SSO and heterogenous lookup comparison with c++20 (string_bench_*.cpp).