Extended Library: Vector in C

C++ styled dynamic array (vector) using pointers and structured like a linked list, written in C

For simple projects, using a dynamic array to set an array bound is much easier and memory efficient than setting a huge upper bound. Setting an upper bound could waste tons of memory and be hard to keep track of. When developers are limited to using C, a simple dynamic array makes code simpler and take less memory. Functions are concisely named to match the naming style of C standard library functions, such as a function named spop_v compared to sscanf_s in <stdlib.h>.

Usage

1. Create a directory to store the source files (ex. ~/.extdlib/c/)
2. cd to the file (ex cd ~/.extdlib/c/)
3. Clone this repository into the directory:

   $ git clone https://github.com/s7a19t4r/extdlib-cvector
   

4. Place the header file named vector.h in a directory (ex. ~/.extdlib/c/vector.h).
5. Add -L[filepath] to your compile flags (ex. -L~/.extdlib/c/extdlib-cvector/src/).
6. Compile your source file as normal (ex. gcc -L~/.extdlib/c/extdlib-cvector/src/ main.c -o main.elf)

See GUIDELINES.md for correct usage of project

Contributing

Clone the Repository

cd to a directory and clone:

$ git clone https://github.com/s7a19t4r/extdlib-cvector

See GUIDELINES.md for contribution guidelines

Install gcc Compiler

Debian/Windows (WSL2):

$ sudo apt install gcc

Arch:

$ sudo pacman -S gcc

Fedora:

$ sudo dnf install gcc

macOS (installs clang):

$ brew install llvm

Install .clang-format Formatter (config provided)

Debian/Windows (WSL2):

$ sudo apt install clang-format

Arch:

$ sudo pacman -S clang-format

Fedora:

$ sudo dnf install clang-tools-extra

macOS:

$ brew install clang-format

Important

• Currently is only able to store integer data
• Maximum size is SIZE_MAX
• Some functions may be slower than a C++ vector
• Reverse iteration will be especially slow because of the singly linked list format
• Vector setup and cleanup are NOT implicitly called; they must be manually implemented.
• Because C is a procedural language, the raw data of the vector struct can be accessed. Please refrain from directly accessing members and only use the get methods

Features

• Memory usage scales with the array size
• Supports most features of a C++ vector, excluding iterators and time complexity
• Quality of life features that C++ vectors do not have, such as printing the list, sum, product, etc...
• Ability to store data types other than integers using void pointers (May cause significant changes to code structure, function return values, function behavior, and function parameters)
• Speed of a C++ vector (unlikely)

Compilation

Makefile is provided, run make to compile