*GLib- is a cross-platform C utility library used to simplify application development. It serves as the low-level foundation for GTK and GNOME, but it’s useful in any C project that needs robust, portable utility functions.

Why Use GLib?

GLib enhances C with:

• Portable data types (gint, gboolean, etc.)
• Dynamic strings (GString)
• Collections (GList, GHashTable)
• Command-line argument parsing
• Error handling
• Event loops and I/O utilities

Example: GLib in Action

#include <glib.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    GString *str = g_string_new("Hello");
    g_string_append(str, ", GLib!");
    g_print("%s\n", str->str);
    g_string_free(str, TRUE);

    g_print("Program received %d arguments.\n", argc);
    for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
        g_print("Arg %d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);
    }

    return 0;
}

1. GLib Header: <glib.h>

This header includes the full GLib core API. It gives access to:

• GLib data types
• Memory management tools
• String and file utilities
• Logging and debugging features

2. GLib Data Types

GLib defines platform-independent data types:

Why use these?

Using GLib types improves portability*- and **consistency, especially on different architectures and platforms.

3. Dynamic Strings: GString

GString *str = g_string_new("Hello");
g_string_append(str, ", GLib!");
g_print("%s\n", str->str);
g_string_free(str, TRUE);

• GString handles string growth automatically.
• g_string_append() concatenates strings safely.
• g_string_free() releases memory.

4. Command-Line Argument Handling

g_print("Program received %d arguments.\n", argc);
for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
    g_print("Arg %d: %s\n", i, argv[i]);
}

GLib provides g_print(), which behaves like printf() but is UTF-8 safe and cross-platform.

For advanced CLI parsing, GLib also offers GOptionContext, but argc/argv can still be used directly in simple cases.

5. GLib Utility Functions

Here are some common GLib functions you’ll likely use often:

Compilation with GLib

Use pkg-config to compile your GLib programs:

gcc glib_example.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs glib-2.0) -o glib_example

Breakdown:

• --cflags: Provides necessary -I include flags.
• --libs: Adds linker flags for GLib (-lglib-2.0).
• -o glib_example: Output binary.

Sample Output

Hello, GLib!
Program received 1 arguments.
Arg 0: ./glib_example

If you run with arguments (e.g. ./glib_example foo bar), each argument will be printed.

More information

You can refer to https://docs.gtk.org/glib/ to see more information about using Glib

Summary

GLib extends C with modern features like dynamic strings, flexible types, safe memory handling, and helpful utilities. It helps you write cleaner, more portable C code—especially when building large or GUI applications.