empower

Empower is a collection of header-only libraries for C that empower you to write applications faster and with more joy.

Modules

Empower contains the following modules:

Module	Description
e_alloc	Memory allocation
e_arena	Arena allocator
e_base64	Base64 encoding/decoding
e_cstr	String utility functions
e_debug	Debugging utilities
e_fs	File handling functions
e_ini	INI file parsing
e_log	Logging
e_macro	Macro helpers
e_mem	Memory manipulation
e_parse	String parser utilities
e_rand	Randomization
e_rbuf	Ring Buffer
e_result	Result type
e_str	Dynamically sized string
e_test	Testing
e_types	Common type aliases
e_vec	Vectors / dynamic arrays

Requirements

• Supported C standards:
  • C99 or newer is required (C89 is not supported).
  • However, it is recommended to always use the most recent C version (e.g. C23).
• Supported compilers:
  • GCC, Clang, MinGW GCC and MSVC are officially supported.
  • Others likely work as well.
• Supported platforms:
  • Many modules are platform independent. Thus, they are also suitable for embedded systems.
  • For platform dependent modules (e.g. e_fs):
    • POSIX: Fully supported. Tested on Linux with glibc.
    • Windows: Support for MinGW and "native" Windows builds. Tested with Wine, but not on an actual Windows machine or VM. Thus, support may be a bit flaky. Pull requests welcome.

Usage

The process is the same as for all STB-style header-only libraries:

1. Download the .h file for the libraries you need and place them somewhere in your project.
2. Include the libraries in the files where you need them.
3. In one .c file, you will have to provide the implementation for the functions. For instance, when using e_cstr, you have to #define E_CSTR_IMPL before the include. Not all modules require this; refer to the module documentation.
4. Have fun!

Development

For running the tests, use the Makefiles in test/build, for example:

make --file test/build/posix-gcc.mk
make --file test/build/posix-clang.mk STDC=c99

For generating a compile_commands.json that will allow for LSP support with clangd, download Bear and run the following commands:

make --file test/build/posix-clang.mk clean
bear -- make --file test/build/posix-clang.mk

This will not work for MinGW and MSVC stuff. I might get around to implementing some kind of workaround for that, but I don't care enough about Windows to justify the time investment.