README.md

Single-file public-domain/open source libraries with minimal dependencies

Generally, the following is a list of small, easy-to-integrate, portable libraries which are usable from C and/or C++, and should be able to be compiled on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. However, I have not personally verified that any specific lilbrary is as advertised, or is quality software.

Rules

• Libraries must be usable from C or C++, ideally both
• Libraries should be usable from more than one platform (ideally, all major desktops and/or all major mobile)
• Libraries should compile and work on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms
• Libraries should use at most two files (one header, one source)

Exceptions will be allowed for good reasons.

Recent additions

Recent additions are marked with an asterisk in the left column.

New libraries and corrections

See discussion after the list.

JSON Parsing

There are a lot of JSON parsers listed here. For some analysis and performance results, check out https://github.com/miloyip/nativejson-benchmark

Other lists

Also you might be interested in other related, but different lists:

• clib: list of (mostly) small single C functions (licenses not listed)
• CCAN: package of lots of shareable C functions (mixed licenses)

Library listing

Public domain single-file libraries usable from C and C++ are in bold. Other libraries are either non-public domain, or two files, or not usable from both C and C++, or all three. Libraries of more than two files are mostly forbidden.

For the API column, "C" means C only, "C++" means C++ only, and "C/C++" means C/C++ usable from either; some files may require building as C or C++ but still qualify as "C/C++" as long as the header file uses extern "C" to make it work. (In some cases, a header-file-only library may compile as both C or C++, but produce an implementation that can only be called from one or the other, because of a lack of use of extern "C"; in this case the table still qualifies it as C/C++, as this is not an obstacle to most users.)

Categories:

• general purpose
  • data structures
  • string processing
  • scripting
  • hashing
• mathematics
  • vector math
  • geometry math
  • general math
• parsing
  • JSON
  • YAML
  • CSV
  • other serialization
  • argv argument processing
  • other parsing
• graphics
  • textmode
  • 2D graphics
  • 3D graphics
  • 3D geometry file processing
  • image loading, saving, & processing
• audio/video/data compression
  • compression
  • audio processing & files
  • video
• videogames
• operating system features
  • files and filenames
  • multithreading
  • networking
  • hardware interfacing
• debugging, profiling, testing
  • debugging
  • profiling
  • unit testing etc.
• other
  • AI
  • cryptography
  • state machines
  • user interface
  • miscellaneous

AI

library	license	API	files	description
Genann	zlib	C/C++	2	simple neural networks (ANN)
KANN	MIT	C/C++	2	automatic differentiation (2 files)
micropather	zlib	C++	2	pathfinding with A*

argv

library	license	API	files	description
Argh!	BSD	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
Clara	Boost	C++	1	composable, command line parser for C++ 11 and beyond
CLI11	BSD	C++	1	Feature-rich CLI parsing in modern C++11
cmdline	BSD	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
flags	public domain	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
getops.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	command-line argument parsing for C++ 11 and beyond
kgflags	MIT	C/C++	1	command-line argument parsing
linkom	MIT	C/C++	1	command-line argument parsing w/ DOS-style options
optionparser	MIT	C++	1	command-line argument parsing
parg	public domain	C	2	command-line argument parsing
ProgramOptions.hxx	MIT	C++	1	command-line argument parsing

audio

library	license	API	files	description
aw_ima.h	MIT	C/C++	1	IMA-ADPCM audio decoder
btac1c	MIT	C/C++	1	MS-IMA_ADPCM variant
dr_flac	public domain	C/C++	1	FLAC audio decoder
dr_wav	public domain	C/C++	1	WAV audio loader
Geneva	MIT	C/C++	1	Library generating 8-bit waveforms of various kinds
minimp3	CC0	C	1	Minimalistic MP3 decoder with sse/neon support
miniaudio	public domain	C/C++	1	Audio playback and capture library
pocketmod	MIT	C/C++	1	ProTracker MOD file renderer
sts_mixer	public domain	C/C++	1	simple stereo audio mixer
tinysound	zlib	C/C++	1	direct sound audio mixer & WAV loader
TinySoundFont	MIT	C/C++	1	SoundFont2 loader & synthesizer

compression

library	license	API	files	description
dmc_unrar	GPLv2+	C/C++	1	RAR file decompression
fastlz	MIT	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
lz4	BSD	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
miniz.c	MIT	C/C++	1	compression, decompression, ZIP file, PNG writing
microtar	MIT	C/C++	2	lightweight tar library
pithy	BSD	C/C++	2	fast but larger LZ compression
rle	MIT	C	1+1	extremely simple run-length encoder/decoder

crypto

library	license	API	files	description
ggentropy	ISC	C++	2	cross platform entropy library
Monocypher	public domain	C	2	high-quality small cryptography library
TweetNaCl	public domain	C	2	high-quality tiny cryptography library

data structures

library	license	API	files	description
aArray	public domain	C	1	Arrays/strings: generic, safe
avl	public domain	C/C++	2	AVL tree
bitset.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	Compile time sided bit set for C++11 and beyond
c-bool-value	WTFPLv2	C/C++	1	Simple and easy boolean values in standard c
DG_dynarr.h	public domain	C/C++	1	typesafe dynamic arrays (like std::vector) for plain C
DynaVar	GPL-3.0	C++	1	Object which can store any type of primitive data type
fector.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	A fixed size std::vector like structure
itlib	MIT	C++	1	several C++11 standard-contaner-like libraries and helpers
klib	MIT	C/C++	2	many 2-file libs: hash, sort, b-tree, etc
LinkedList	MIT	C/C++	2	Linked list C++
libpqueue	BSD	C/C++	2	priority queue (heap)
minilibs	public domain	C	2	two-file binary tress (also regex, etc)
PackedArray	WTFPLv2	C	2	memory-efficient array of elements with non-pow2 bitcount
simclist	BSD	C/C++	2	linked-list
selist	ISC	C/C++	2	space-efficient linked-list
trie.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	A trie (prefix tree) implementation for C++11
mempool	MIT	C++	1	Efficient minimal memory pool implementation for C++
uthash	BSD	C/C++	2	several 1-header, 1-license-file libs: generic hash, list, etc
px_mem.h	MIT	C++	1	Safe memory managemnt constructs for C++

debugging

library	license	API	files	description
dbgtools	zlib	C/C++	2	cross-platform debug util libraries
debug-assert	zlib	C++	1	modular assertion macro
debugbreak	BSD	C/C++	1	programmatic debug break
log.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	multi threaded simple C++11 and beyond logger
loguru	public domain	C++	1	flexible logging
pempek_assert.cpp	WTFPLv2	C++	2	flexible assertions

files & filenames

library	license	API	files	description
DG_misc.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings
dirent	MIT	C/C++	1	dirent for Windows: retrieve file & dir info
tfile	MIT	C++	1	FILE* wrapper does read-write-append-seek-close (Win/Mac/Unix)
TinyDir	BSD	C	1	cross-platform directory reading (Win/POSIX/MinGW)
tinyfiles	zlib	C/C++	1	cross-platform directory reading (Win/Mac/Unix)
whereami	WTFPLv2	C/C++	2	get path/filename of executable or module

geometry file

library	license	API	files	description
cgltf	MIT	C	1	glTF 2.0 file loader
fast_obj.h	MIT	C	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
objzero	MIT	C	2	wavefront OBJ file loader
tinyply	public domain	C++	2	PLY mesh file loader
tinyobjloader	MIT	C++	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
tinyobjloader-c	MIT	C	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
tk_objfile	MIT	C/C++	1	OBJ file loader
yocto_obj.h	MIT	C/C++	1	wavefront OBJ file loader
m3d.h	MIT	C/C++	1	Model 3D importer/exporter (with Blender, Goxel, WebGL JS and assimp integration)
qll_q3.h	WTFPLv2	C++	1	Quake3 BSP loader

geometry math

library	license	API	files	description
Clipper	Boost	C++	2	line & polygon clipping & offsetting
df	public domain	C/C++	1	find voronoi region in linear time of size of lattice
jc_voronoi	MIT	C/C++	1	find voronoi regions on float/double data
nanoflann	BSD	C++	1	build KD trees for point clouds
nv_voronoi.h	public domain	C/C++	1	find voronoi regions on lattice w/ integer inputs
par_msquares	MIT	C/C++	1	convert (binarized) image to triangles
par_shapes	MIT	C/C++	1	generate various 3d geometric shapes
par_streamlines	MIT	C/C++	1	tessellate wide lines and curves with shading attributes
PolyPartition	MIT	C++	2	polygon triangulation, partitioning
rjm_mc.h	public domain	C/C++	1	marching cubes triangulator
sobol.h	public domain	C/C++	1	sobol & stratified sampling sequences
sdf.h	MIT	C/C++	1	compute signed-distance field from antialiased image
Tomas Akenine-Moller snippets	public domain	C/C++	2	various 3D intersection calculations, not lib-ified
Voxelizer	MIT	C/C++	1	convert triangle mesh to voxel triangle mesh
xatlas	MIT	C++	2	mesh parameterization
yocto_bvh.h	MIT	C/C++	1	ray-casting and closest-element queries of bounding-volume hierarchy
yocto_shape.h	MIT	C/C++	1	shape generation, tesselation, normals, etc.

graphics (text)

library	license	API	files	description
rang	public domain	C++	1	cross-platform colored console text
ssfn.h	MIT	C/C++	1	scalable/bitmap/pixmap font renderer

graphics (2d)

library	license	API	files	description
blendish	MIT	C/C++	1	blender-style widget rendering using NanoVG
Cimg	CeCILL/CeCILL-C	C++	1	image processing toolkit (60K LoC)
Immediate2D	public domain	C++	2	zero-configuration, immediate-mode 2D graphics for Windows
noc_turtle	MIT	C/C++	2	procedural graphics generator
tigr	public domain	C/C++	2	quick-n-dirty window text/graphics for Windows and macOS
RGL	zlib	C/C++	1	Simple ultra-lightweight OpenGL version abstraction based on RLGL (pipeline system)
RFont	zlib	C/C++	1	Simple-to-use lightweight single header modular font rendering library
wfc	MIT	C	1	generate image locally similar to the input image using WFC algorithm

graphics (3d)

library	license	API	files	description
debug-draw	public domain	C++	1	API-agnostic immediate-mode debug rendering
lightmapper	public domain	C/C++	1	use your OpenGL renderer to offline bake lightmaps
mikktspace	zlib	C/C++	2	compute tangent space for normal mapping
rjm_raytrace.h	public domain	C/C++	1	minimalistic SSE packet raytracer for offline baking
seamoptimizer	public domain	C/C++	1	modify lightmap data to hide seams
Simple OpenGL Loader	MIT	C/C++	1	extensible, cross-platform OpenGL loader
small3dlib	CC0 + patent waiver	C/C++	1	fast and portable software renderer
sokol_gfx.h	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform 3D API wrapper (GLES2+3/GL3/D3D11/Metal)
Swarmz	public domain	C++	1	swarming/flocking algorithm
tinygizmo	public domain	C++	2	gizmo objects for interactively editing 3d transformations
Vertex Cache Optimizer	public domain	C/C++	1	vertex cache optimization of meshes
Vulkan Memory Allocator	MIT	C/C++	1	memory allocator for Vulkan
yocto_trace.h	MIT	C/C++	1	physically-based unidirectional path tracer w/ MIS for direct lights
yocto_symrigid.h	MIT	C/C++	1	rigid body simulator (sequential impulse/PGS) with support for concave objects
px_render.h	MIT	C++	1	cross-platform, Multithreaded, command based, 3D render API (GL/GLES) info

hardware

library	license	API	files	description
EasyTab	public domain	C/C++	1	multi-platform tablet input
libue	MIT	C/C++	1	Helper library for Linux device hot-plug event

hashing

library	license	API	files	description
xxHash	BSD	C/C++	2	fast hash function

images

library	license	API	files	description
EXR miniexr	public domain	C++	2	OpenEXR writer, needs header file
EXR tinyexr	BSD	C/C++	1	EXR image read/write, uses miniz internally
GIF gif.h	public domain	C++	1	animated GIF writer (can only include once)
GIF gif_load	public domain	C/C++	1	(animated) GIF reader
GIF jo_gif.cpp	public domain	C++	1	animated GIF writer (CPP file can also be used as H file)
JPG jpeg-compressor	public domain	C++	2	2-file JPEG compress, 2-file JPEG decompress
JPG NanoJPEG	MIT	C/C++	1	JPEG decoder
JPG tiny_jpeg.h	public domain	C/C++	1	JPEG encoder
JPG EXIF easyexif	BSD2	C++	2	EXIF metadata extractor for JPEG images
JPG EXIF TinyEXIF	BSD	C++	2	Parse EXIF data from JPEG (XMP w/ TinyXML2 lib)
PDF PDFgen	public domain	C	2	PDF writer
PNG lodepng	zlib	C/C++	2	PNG encoder/decoder
PNG picopng.cpp	zlib	C++	2	tiny PNG loader
PNG TinyPngOutput	LGPLv3	C/C++	2	PNG writer
PNM PNM	Apache 2.0	C++	1	PBM, PGM and PPM reader and writer
SVG nanoSVG	zlib	C/C++	1	1-file SVG parser; 1-file SVG rasterizer
cro_mipmap.h	public domain	C/C++	1	average, min, max mipmap generators
rjm_texbleed.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Fills in the color of pixels where alpha==0

math

library	license	API	files	description
amoeba	MIT	C/C++	1	constraint solver (Cassowary) w/Lua binding
ceval-single-header	MIT	C/C++	1	A single-header library for parsing and evaluation of arithmetic expressions
fft	public domain	C++	1	Fast Fourier Transform
ExprTk	MIT	C++	1	Runtime mathematical expression parser and evaluation engine.
PoissonGenerator.h	MIT	C++	1	Poisson disk points generator (disk or rect)
prns.h	public domain	C/C++	1	seekable pseudo-random number sequences
rfft.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Fast Fourier Tranform for arbitrary array sizes
rnd.h	public domain	C/C++	1	pseudo-random number generation
ShaderFastLibs	MIT	C++	1	(also HLSL) approximate transcendental functions optimized for shaders (esp. GCN)
simrank.hpp	MIT	C++	2	SimRank graph similarity algorithm
SummedAreaTable	MIT	C++	1	Summed-Area Table generation and sum/avg queries
TinyExpr	zlib	C	2	evaluation of math expressions from strings

multithreading

library	license	API	files	description
bikeshed.h	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform lock free fixed memory hierarchical work scheduler
mm_sched.h	zlib	C/C++	1	cross-platform multithreaded task scheduler based on enkiTS
thread.h	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform thread primitives
TinyCThread	zlib	C/C++	2	cross-platform implementation of the C11 Threads API
TinyThread++	zlib	C++	2	cross-platform implementation of the C++11 Threads API
px_sched.h	MIT	C++	1	cross-platform task scheduler info

network

library	license	API	files	description
cpp-httplib	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform HTTP server/client
civetweb	MIT	C/C++	2	HTTP server, fork of Mongoose
EWS	BSD	C/C++	1	HTTP server
happyhttp	zlib	C++	2	HTTP client requests
http	public domain	C/C++	1	HTTP get/post
libcluon	MPL-2.0	C++	1	cross-platform socket wrapper and data marshalling with native implementations for Protobuf, LCM/ZCM, JSON, and MsgPack serialization/deserialization
LUrlParser	MIT	C++	2	lightweight URL & URI parser RFC 1738, RFC 3986
mm_web.h	BSD	C/C++	1	lightweight webserver, fork of webby
mongoose	GPLv2	C/C++	2	HTTP server
par_easycurl.h	MIT	C/C++	1	cURL wrapper
sts_net	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform socket wrapper (socket sets and packet API)
yocto	public domain	C/C++	2	non-production-use HTTP server
zed_net	public domain	C/C++	1	cross-platform socket wrapper
znet	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform networking w/ Lua binding

serialization

library	license	API	files	description
archive	public domain	C++	1	binary serialize & deserlize w/ STL support
cista	MIT	C++	1	cross-platform high performance zero copy C++17 serialization/deserialization
libcluon	MPL-2.0	C++	1	cross-platform data serialization/deserialization with native implementations for Protobuf, LCM/ZCM, JSON, and MsgPack

json

library	license	API	files	description
ajson	Boost	C++	1	JSON serialize & deserialize w/ STL support
cJSON	MIT	C/C++	1	JSON parser
json-build	MIT	C/C++	1	JSON serializer
cJSON	MIT	C/C++	1	JSON parser
json.h	public domain	C/C++	1	JSON parser
json.hpp	MIT	C++	1	JSON parse, serialize, deserialize
jzon.h	MIT	C++	2	JSON parser
PicoJSON	BSD	C++	1	JSON parse/serializer
parson	MIT	C/C++	2	JSON parser and serializer
jsonc	MIT	C/C++	1	extremely fast and extremely small (~60 SLoC) JSON parser

yaml

library	license	API	files	description
mini-yaml	MIT	C++	2	YAML parser and serializer

csv

library	license	API	files	description
CSVstream	MIT	C++	1	CSV parser
Fast C++ CSV Parser	BSD	C++	1	CSV parser
Rapidcsv	BSD	C++	1	CSV parser
Vince's CSV Parser	MIT	C++	1	CSV parser and serializer

parsing

library	license	API	files	description
cmp	MIT	C/C++	2	MessagePack parser and serializer
cpp-peglib	MIT	C/C++	1	PEG (Parsing Expression Grammars) library
inih	BSD	C/C++	2	.ini file parser
ini.h	public domain	C/C++	1	.ini file parser
minilibs	public domain	C	2	two-file regex (also binary tree, etc)
mm_lexer.h	zlib	C/C++	1	C-esque language lexer
SLRE	GPLv2	C/C++	1	regular expression matcher
tinymemfile	zlib	C++	1	fscanf on in-memory files
udisasm	MIT	C/C++	1	extremely small disassembler for ARMv8.2 AArch64 (~65k)
Unformat	public domain	C++	1	parses formatted strings (reverse of std::format)

profiling

library	license	API	files	description
MicroProfile	public domain	C++	2-4	CPU (and GPU?) profiler, 1-3 header files, uses miniz internally
prof	MIT	C/C++	1	profiler for Linux
Remotery	Apache 2.0	C/C++	2	CPU/GPU profiler Win/Mac/Linux, using web browser for viewer

scripting

library	license	API	files	description
Duktape	MIT	C	2	embeddable JavaScript engine
MY-BASIC	MIT	C	2	interpreter for a BASIC dialect scripting language
LIL	zlib	C/C++	2	interpreter for a Tcl-like scripting language
lualite	MIT	C++	1	generate Lua bindings in C++
Picol	BSD	C/C++	1	interpreter for a Tcl-like scripting language
s7	BSD	C/C++	2	interpreter for a subset of Scheme (R5RS/R7RS)

state machines

library	license	API	files	description
FFSM2	MIT	C++	1	flat FSM
HFSM2	MIT	C++	1	hierarchical FSM

strings

library	license	API	files	description
dfa	MIT	C/C++	2	fast UTF-8 decoder (need a header file)
DG_misc.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Daniel Gibson's stb.h-esque cross-platform helpers: path/file, strings
gb_string.h	public domain	C/C++	1	dynamic strings
Obfuscate	public domain	C++	1	Guaranteed compile-time string literal obfuscation library for C++14
inja.hpp	MIT	C++	1	template engine
str	BSD	C	2	Yet another string library for C language
strpool.h	public domain	C/C++	1	string interning
Str.h	public domain	C++	1	Simple C++ string type with an optional local buffer
str_view.hpp	MIT	C++	1	null-termination-aware string-view class
utf8	public domain	C/C++	1	UTF-8 string library
csplit	MIT	C/C++	1	String splitting and processing single-header library

unit testing

library	license	API	files	description
catch	Boost	C++	1	unit testing
catch2	Boost	C++	1	unit testing
doctest	MIT	C++	1	unit testing
fctx	BSD	C/C++	1	unit testing
greatest	iSC	C	1	unit testing
hippomocks	LGPL	C++	1	unit testing
labrat	public domain	C/C++	1	unit testing
minctest	zlib	C	1	unit testing
munit	MIT	C	1	unit testing
Rexo	public domain	C/C++	1	framework for C89/C++ featuring automatic registration of tests and a polished API
picotest	MIT	C/C++	1	unit testing
SPUT	BSD	C/C++	1	unit testing
trompeloeil	Boost	C++	1	unit testing
utest	MIT	C/C++	1	unit testing
utest.h	public domain	C/C++	1	unit testing
walter	public domain	C	1	unit testing
clove-unit	MIT	C	1	unit testing

user interface

library	license	API	files	description
dear imgui	MIT	C++	9	an immediate-mode GUI formerly named "ImGui"; 3rd-party C wrapper
libcmdf	public domain	C	1	a small library for writing CLI applications
linenoise	BSD	C/C++	2	terminal readline w/ history etc
noc_file_dialog.h	MIT	C/C++	1	file open/save dialogs (Win/Mac/Linux)
nuklear	public domain	C/C++	1	minimal GUI toolkit
tinyfiledialogs	ZLIB	C/C++	2	modal dialogs inc. file open/save (Win/Mac/Linux)
wcwidth9	Apache 2.0	C	1	platform independent wcwidth with full unicode 9 support

vectors

library	license	API	files	description
algebra3.h	public domain	C++	1	vector utilities for 2, 3, and 4 element vectors, all inline
ccVector.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Vector, quaternion and matrix math
gb_math	public domain	C/C++	1	Vector, quaternion and matrix math w/o math.h
Handmade Math	public domain	C/C++	1	vector math
linalg.h	public domain	C++	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
linalg	ISC	C/C++	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
mm_vec.h	BSD	C/C++	1	SIMD vector math
hypatia	MIT	C	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math

video

library	license	API	files	description
jo_mpeg / (converted to C)	public domain	C/C++	1	MPEG file writer

videogames

library	license	API	files	description
app.h	public domain	C/C++	1	Windows-only-but-meant-to-be-cross-platform game-ish framework
raycastlib.h	CC0 + patent waiver	C/C++	1	advanced raycasting rendering library, pure C99 with no dependencies, only 32bit int math

miscellaneous

library	license	API	files	description
ASAP	MIT	C++	1	library for parsing, printing, iterating and operating on dates.
benchmark.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	micro benchmark library for C++11 and beyond
cpp-generators	BSD	C++	1	generators in C++
endianness.h	public domain	C	1	endianness conversion and detection
ggformat	ISC	C++	2	printf replacement
Hedley	public domain	C/C++	1	compiler portability, optimization, static analysis, etc.
format.hpp	LGPL3	C++	1	dlang inspired typesafe string formatting
levenshtein	MIT	C/C++	2	compute edit distance between two strings
MakeID.h	public domain	C++	1	allocate/deallocate small integer IDs efficiently
openGA	MPL-2.0	C++	1	A C++ Generic Algorithm solver library
picobench	MIT	C++	1	microbenchmarking
PlusCallback	zlib	C++	1	function/method callbacks
process.h	public domain	C/C++	1	process control API
random	MIT	C++	1	convenient API for random
sokol_time.h	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform time measurement
stmr	MIT	C	2	extract English word stems
tinyformat	Boost	C++	1	typesafe printf
tinytime	zlib	C/C++	1	quick-and-dirty time elapsed time
ubench.h	public domain	C/C++	1	microbenchmarking
visit_struct	Boost	C++	2	struct-field reflection
sili-toolchain	public domain	C/C++	1	C toolchain for modern C programming, strings, arrays, files, threading, ect
RGFW	zlib	C/C++	1	A multi-platform single-header user-friendly GUI framework as an alternative to GLFW

There are also these XML libraries, but I am so significantly not a fan of XML that I've consigned these to the basement to make you think twice.

• parsing: tinyxml2: XML (zlib license)
• parsing: pugixml: XML (MIT license)
• parsing: yxml: XML (MIT license)

uncategorized

cat	library	license	API	files	description
2d	C-Turtle	MIT	C++	1	Port of Python's Turtle to C++
2d	cgl	MIT	C	2	C Game Library
2d	daisy	MIT	C++	1	2D Graphics and text
2d	m_dist.h	zlib	C/C++	1	fast distance transform and Voronoi
2d	m_image.h	zlib	C/C++	1	image processing routines
2d	m_path_finding.h	zlib	C/C++	1	floodfill-based path finding
2d	m_raster.h	zlib	C/C++	1	simple rasterizer
2d	pico_gfx.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Graphics library (sokol_gfx)
2d	pico_gl.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Graphics library (OpenGL)
2d	scalable-font2	MIT	C	1	Scalable Font renderer + specification
2d	si_normalmap	PD	C	1	Image to Normal Map generator
3d	model3d	MIT	C	1	3D model format specification
audio	atomix	PD	C	1	wait-free atomic sound mixer
audio	chibi-xmplay	BSD3	C	2	XM module playback library
audio	jar-mod	PD	C	1	MOD playback library
audio	jar-xm	WTFPLv2	C	1	XM playback library
audio	mojoAL	zlib	C	1	Full OpenAL 1.1 implementation
audio	nanoalsa	MIT	C	1	Tiny PCM playback under Linux
audio	wav.h	PD/MIT	C	1	.wav file encoding and decoding
b64	pico_b64.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Base64 en/decoder
crypt	tiny-AES-c	PD	C	2	Small portable AES128/192/256 in C
crypt	tiny-ECDH-c	PD	C	2	Small portable Elliptic-Curve Diffie-Hellman in C
date	date	MIT	C++	1	date and time libraries
ds	dynarr	PD	C	1	dynamic array container
ds	fifo_declare.h	LGPL2	C/C++	1	Thread/core safe FIFO
ds	jhr_skip_list	PD	C++	1	Skip Lists
ds	jrsl	PD	C/C++	1	Skip Lists
ds	libintrusive	PD	C	2	Intrusive data structures
ds	lstr.h	PD/MIT	C	1	length-bounded strings
ecs	pico_ecs.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Pure and simple ECS
engine	FWK1	public domain	C	1	Game engine
engine	olcPixelGameEngine	BSD3	C++	1	Game engine
eval	mathe.h	PD/MIT	C	1	mathematical expression parsing
ext	cor.h	PD/MIT	C	1	coroutines
ext	errnoname	BSD0	C	2	extended errno messages
ext	filesystem	MIT	C++	1	implementation of std::filesystem
ext	outcome	Apache2/Boost	C++	1	outcome and result C++ containers
gl	final_dynamic_opengl.h	MIT	C	1	opengl loader
gui	webview	MIT	C/C++	1	cross-platform webview library
hash	hash.c	PD	C	2	SHA1/SHA3/MD5 hashes
hash	lonesha256	PD	C	1	SHA256 implementation
hash	PicoSHA2	MIT	C++	1	SHA256 implementation
image	bitmap	MIT	C++	1	Bitmap decoder and utilities
image	framepacker	MIT	C++	1	texture bin packing algorithm
image	tiffloader	PD	C	2	TIFF image loader
json	jsmn	MIT	C	1	Minimalistic JSON parser
json	jsonc	MIT	C	1	Fast JSON parser
json	sjson	BSD2	C	1	JSON encode/decoder
log	pico_log.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Flexible logging framework
math	Delaunay	BSD3	C++	2	2D and 3D Delaunay triangulation
math	dvector	PD	C	1	2D/3D vector/quaternion/matrix math library
math	gm.h	PD/MIT	C	1	vector/matrix/quaternion math
math	HMM Toolkit	GPL2	C/C++	1	Discrete and continuous Hidden Markov Models (DHMM, CHMM)
math	linmath.h	WTFPLv2	C	1	vector library
math	m_math.h	zlib	C/C++	1	math with C/OpenCL portability
math	omm	MIT	C++	1	Template open multi-methods
math	OpenNL	BSD3	C++	2	linear and eigen solvers
math	pico_hit.h	PD/zlib	C	1	2D collision detection (SAT) and ray casting
math	pico_math.h	PD/zlib	C	1	2D math library for games
math	pico_qt.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Quadtree library
math	precision	PD	C++	3	Arbitrary-precision integer and rational arithmetic
math	simple_linear_regression	MIT	C/C++	1	Simple linear regression
math	Statistics-Tool-Box	PD	C/C++	1	Statistical functions
math	tiny-bignum-c	PD	C	2	Small portable multiple-precision unsigned integer arithmetic in C
math	vmath	PD	C	1	Vector/matrix library
mem	buddy_alloc	BSD0	C	1	buddy memory allocator
mem	final_memory.h	MIT	C	1	heap memory handler
misc	args.h	PD/MIT	C	1	argparse-style argument parser
misc	CLM_LIBS	PD	C	1	Diverse utilities
misc	Color-Toolkit	GPL2	C/C++	1	Color conversion utils (RGB, XYZ, Lab, CIE76, CIE94 and CIEDE200)
misc	ebnn.h	MIT	C	1	BNN (Binarized Neural Networks)
misc	final_tiletrace.hpp	MIT	C++	1	tilemap contour tracing
misc	h.h	GPL3	C/C++	1	Diverse utilities
misc	ll.h	PD/MIT	C	1	cross-platform library loading
misc	mmu	MIT	C	2	memory management and data structure toolset
misc	QR-Code-generator	MIT	C	2	QR Code generator
misc	qsort	MIT	C	1	qsort algorithm as a C macro
misc	scogem.c	PD	C	2	URL parser
misc	smallxrm.c	PD	C	2	Implementation of X resource manager
misc	x.h	Mulan2	C/C++	1	cross-platform C/C++ utilities
net	netq	MIT	C	1	Reliable datagram library
net	simpletls.c	PD	C	2	Function to create a socket and connect to a remote server with TLS
net	swrap	PD	C	1	TCP and UDP socket wrapper
net	tiniest-analytics	MIT	C++	2	Cross-platform analytics for games (using Google Analytics <4)
net	tiny-MQTT-c	PD	C	2(4)	Small implementation of (some of) the MQTT protocol in C
net	tlse	PD/BSD2	C	2	TLS v1.0, 1.2, 1.3 and DTLS 1.0, 1.2 implementations
net	udp.h	PD/MIT	C	1	cross-platform udp networking
net	webster	Apache2	C++	2	Standalone HTTP server/client
pack	nibrans	PD	C	1	adaptive rANS library
pack	rle	MIT	C	1	RLE library
parser	html-parse.c	GPL	C	2	HTML parser (wget)
parser	tiny-regex-c	PD	C	2	Small portable regex in C
parser	tiny-regex-mod	PD	C	1	Tiny regular expressions library
parser	tok	MIT	C	1	Configurable tokenizer
parser	tomlplusplus	MIT	C++	1	TOML parser and serializer
prng	ranxoshi256	PD	C	1	xoshiro256 algorithm
raster	canvas_ity	ISC	C++	1	2D rasterizer
script	xpl	WTFPLv2	C	1	X Programming Language
serial	blob_tree	MIT	C++	1	Binary tree serializer
serial	dt.h	PD/MIT	C	1	datatag serializer/deserializer (superset of JSON)
serial	qserial	BSD3	C++	1	Schema-driven serialization library
serial	Serialization helper	WTFPLv2	C	1	Serialization helper
serial	stream.h	PD/MIT	C	1	byte streams
svg	SimpleSVG	BSD3	C++	1	Easy to use SVG library
sys	cpuid	??	C/C++	1	cross-platform cpuid intrinsic
sys	doops	PD	C	1	Event loop library
sys	final_platform_layer.h	MIT	C	1	platform abstraction
sys	iathook	??	C/C++	1	import address table hooking library (x86/x64,w32)
sys	JArgsParser	MIT	C++	1	arguments parser
sys	openmodal	MIT	C	1	Native file modals
sys	xproc	MIT	C++	2	Foreign Process Information
test	test.h	PD/MIT	C	1	unit testing
time	pico_time.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Time management library
unit	pico_unit.h	PD/zlib	C	1	Unit testing framework
video	pl_mpeg	MIT	C	1	MPEG1 video and audio decoder
xml	final_xml.h	MIT	C	1	xml parser

New libraries and corrections

Submissions of new libraries: I accept submissions (as issues or as pull requests). Please note that every file that must be included in a user's project counts; a header and a source file is 2 files, but a header file, source file, and LICENSE (if the license isn't in the source file) is 3 files, and won't be accepted, because it's not 2 files. But actually 'LICENSE' is a problem for just dropping the library in a source tree anyway, since it's not scoped to just the library, so library authors are encouraged to include the license in the source file and not require a separate LICENSE.

Corrections: if information for a library above is wrong, please send a correction as an issue, pull request, or email. Note that if the list indicates a library works from both C/C++, but it doesn't, this could be an error in the list or it could be a bug in the library. If you find a library doesn't work in 32-bit or 64-bit, the library should be removed from this list, unless it's a bug in the library.

List FAQ

Can I link directly to this list?

Yes. This is the preferred link.

Why isn't library XXX which is made of 3 or more files on this list?

I draw the line arbitrarily at 2 files at most. (Note that some libraries that appear to be two files require a separate LICENSE file, which made me leave them out). Some of these libraries are still easy to drop into your project and build, so you might still be ok with them. But since people come to stb for single-file public domain libraries, I feel that starts to get too far from what we do here.

Why isn't library XXX which is at most two files and has minimal other dependencies on this list?

Probably because I don't know about it, feel free to submit a pull request, issue, email, or tweet it at me (it can be your own library or somebody else's). But I might not include it for various other reasons, including subtleties of what is 'minimal other dependencies' and subtleties about what is 'lightweight'.

Why isn't SQLite's amalgamated build on this list?

Come on.