C standard library
The C standard library is the standardized collection of functions, macros, types, and related facilities provided for C programs.
Modern C
The C standard library is the standardized collection of library functions, macros, and types provided for C programs.
- How it is used
- Provides portable interfaces for mathematics, input/output, strings, time, runtime access, and program termination.
- How deep it goes
- Defines library areas, headers, interface types, error strategies, safety interfaces, and compile-time platform checks.
- Examples
- Uses printf, puts, strtod, snprintf, getenv, and standard headers to illustrate library interfaces and functional groupings.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via standard headers and library functions for portable numerical, textual, temporal, environmental, and input/output operations.
Code Like a Pro in Rust
libc is a Rust crate providing bindings and platform-specific definitions for the C standard library and C-compatible types.
- How it is used
- Supports Rust FFI declarations, C-compatible data layouts, native-library linking, and Cargo-driven compilation of C code.
- How deep it goes
- Explains type mapping, repr(C), unsafe calls, wrappers, bindgen, and build scripts without developing FFI internals broadly.
- Examples
- Uses zlib compression, gzip-file reading, and a Cargo-built Hello World C function as concrete interoperation examples.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by declaring, linking, wrapping, and testing small C interfaces from Rust.
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Modern C, Third Edition
A C library function is a function provided by the standardized C library for use by C programs.
- How it is used
- Supplies portable interfaces for mathematics, I/O, strings, time, runtime environments, and program termination.
- How deep it goes
- Surveys library groups and header interfaces, without descending into individual function implementations.
- Examples
- Uses printf, puts, strtod, standard headers, text and byte I/O, string processing, time handling, and environment variables.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via standard headers and library functions when implementing common C programming tasks.
Read how Modern C, Third Edition explains C standard library →
Related concepts
- printfhas part · printf is a formatted-output API that uses a format specification and supplied values to produce text, either returning it or writing it to an output destination.
- header fileuses · A header file is a source file containing declarations, definitions, macros, or other interface information intended for inclusion in one or more source files during compilation.
- mallocproduces · malloc is a C standard-library function that allocates a specified number of bytes of uninitialized storage and returns a pointer to it or a null pointer if allocation fails.
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