glib

GLib is a cross-platform, low-level core library used by the GNOME project and many other software projects. Written in C, GLib provides data types, portability wrappers, and utility functions that enable applications to run on diverse platforms with consistent behavior.

GLib includes the GObject type system, a foundation for object-oriented programming in C. It offers dynamic typing, reference counting, and a signals and properties mechanism that enable decoupled components and reusable libraries. These facilities underpin many higher-level libraries and language bindings.

Core data structures and memory utilities are provided, including boxed types, and containers such as GList, GSList, GHashTable, GArray, GPtrArray, and GTree. GLib also supplies portable memory management wrappers (g_malloc, g_free, g_realloc, g_strdup) and string utilities for cross-platform string handling.

I/O, threading, and the main event loop are supported. GLib provides a main loop with sources and contexts (GMainLoop, GMainContext) enabling asynchronous callbacks. Threading primitives (GThread, GMutex, GCond) allow multi-threaded programming, while a range of synchronization and concurrency utilities are available.

Error handling and internationalization facilities are included via GError, and time/date support with GDateTime. GLib also provides auxiliary services such as file utilities, process management wrappers, and data serialization with types like GVariant in their ecosystem.

GLib is licensed under the LGPL and is designed for broad portability across Unix-like systems, Windows, and others. It is the foundation for GNOME libraries and is widely used beyond the GNOME project, serving as a building block for higher-level frameworks and applications.