Description

The goal of the Libft project is to recreate a custom version of the standard C library, called "libft," by implementing essential functions from the C standard library that handle tasks like string manipulation, memory management, and linked list operations. This project is a crucial foundation for learning low-level programming and understanding how memory and resources are managed in C.

The focus is on building a set of utility functions that will be useful in future projects, making it easier to work with C programming at a system level.

Key Restrictions & Challenges

• No Use of the Standard Library (except for allowed system calls): This means that malloc, printf, memcpy are not allowed. Instead, we must implement these functions ourselves. This constraint pushes us to understand the inner workings of common C functions and strengthens our ability to work without relying on built-in tools.

• Memory Management: Proper memory allocation and deallocation are critical, especially for the linked list functions.

• Implementation of Edge Cases: The project requires us to carefully handle edge cases. For example, functions like ft_strcpy must account for cases like copying an empty string or handling null pointers, while ft_atoi must handle invalid inputs and large integer values gracefully.

• Efficiency and Performance: Although the focus is on implementation, there’s also an emphasis on efficient algorithms. Functions like ft_memmove must be implemented in a way that accounts for overlapping memory areas, ensuring that data is not corrupted.

• Testing: While no external testing framework is provided, rigorous self-testing is necessary to ensure correctness. Functions like ft_memcpy must be tested on various data types and edge cases (e.g., null pointers, overlapping memory regions) to ensure robustness.

How to Run the Program

1. Compile the Program: First, compile the library by running:

   make
   

Then you get the libft.a. Put libft.a and header file where you prefer your libraries to be.

Usage

To use libft in your project, include the header file and compile with the library:

#include "libft.h"

int main()
{
    char *str = ft_strdup("Hello, world!");
    ft_putstr_fd(str, 1);
    free(str);
    return 0;
}