andlabs/libui
Libui
libui is a native C GUI library and cross-platform framework used to build desktop applications. It provides a unified C abstraction layer and a native widget toolkit that maps directly to the host operating system's original controls, windows, and menu bars.
The project functions as a portable UI wrapper, employing platform-specific backends and a native-API wrapper to maintain visual and behavioral fidelity across different operating systems. It utilizes a C-language binding layer to ensure portability across various compilers and targets.
The library covers native interface construction and window layout management through abstracted containers and alignment controls. It includes capabilities for user input event handling via callbacks, component visibility management, and manual event loop control to coordinate background tasks with interface updates.
Features
- Cross-Platform GUI Toolkits - Provides a framework for building native graphical user interfaces across multiple operating systems from a single codebase.
- GUI Platform Backends - Implements core logic separately for each target platform to maintain native visual and behavioral fidelity.
- C Language Binding Layers - Provides a minimal C binding layer to ensure portability across various compilers and operating system targets.
- Native System - Maps a unified C interface directly to the low-level graphical system calls of each supported operating system.
- Cross-Platform GUI Frameworks - Provides a set of tools for creating consistent application interfaces that map to native system menu bars and windows.
- Event Handling - Uses C function pointers to trigger application logic via callbacks when user interactions occur.
- Layout Containers - Implements generic layout containers that translate to platform-specific alignment and sizing rules.
- Component Layout Containers - Positions interface components using containers and alignment controls to manage sizing across different screen dimensions.
- Native C GUI Libraries - Provides a native C library for building graphical user interfaces using the original controls of the supported platforms.
- Native C Interface Design - Enables the creation of lightweight graphical user interfaces in C using the host system's original UI libraries.
- Native Interface Construction - Builds graphical user interfaces using native operating system technologies to ensure a consistent look and feel across platforms.
- Native Widget Toolkits - Ships a collection of low-level operating system controls for managing buttons, checkboxes, and separators in C.
- Native Window Layout Management - Organizes user interface elements and handles window resizing using native system containers.
- UI Control Interfaces - Provides programmatic APIs to manage the state, visibility, and behavior of native low-level operating system controls.
- Window Resizing Operations - Triggers window move or resize operations when a user interacts with specific areas of the screen.
- Portable Tooling - Enables development of software that runs on multiple operating systems without requiring platform-specific interface code.
- Window Property Setters - Provides APIs for configuring window attributes such as fullscreen mode, border visibility, and content dimensions.
- Manual Loop Execution - Provides manual control over the main event loop to synchronize background processing with interface updates.
- Manual Loop Control - Allows developers to drive the application loop incrementally to interleave UI updates with background processing.
- Menu Systems - Creates application menus and separators that map directly to the native menu bar of the host operating system.
- Portable UI Wrappers - Acts as a lightweight abstraction layer providing a unified C interface for platform-specific GUI technologies.
- Development Libraries - Portable GUI library for embedded platforms.
- Graphical User Interface - Simple and portable library for native GUI elements.
- GUI Frameworks - Portable GUI library using native platform technologies.
- Graphical User Interfaces - Simple and portable library for native GUI components.
Star history
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