libstatgrab

libstatgrab is a cross-platform C library that provides a uniform interface for accessing system statistics. It is designed to simplify writing monitoring and auditing tools by abstracting away the differences between operating systems and exposing a common set of data about the host machine.

The library collects information such as CPU usage and topology, memory and swap usage, disk I/O, network I/O, and the current process list. Applications can query these statistics at runtime and in many cases obtain both aggregate values and per-CPU details, depending on the data available on the host system.

Architecture and API: libstatgrab exposes a straightforward C API and data structures to hold the collected statistics. Programs typically initialize the library, fetch a snapshot of the host’s state, and then release resources. The API is designed to be easy to wrap in bindings for other languages.

Platform support: The library targets multiple Unix-like systems and Windows, with backends that read information from sources such as procfs, sysctl, or native OS facilities. This approach allows a single program to run on different platforms with minimal code changes.

License and history: libstatgrab originated as part of the StatGrab project and is released under a permissive license (BSD-like). Development activity has varied over time, and users should consult the project repository or homepage for the current status and compatibility notes.

See also: StatGrab, psutil, system monitoring tools.