Cosmopolitan libc

lastmod 2026-01-16created 2020-12-314 edits

build-once run-anywhere c without devops

Features

A library that makes C code runnable anywhere
- Similar to Java, but needs no interpreter or VM
- Offers Go/Rust-level portability while using plain C
- Compiling with the 5 provided library files gives Mac/Windows/Linux support as is
glibc-level speed
Creates and uses a format called ape (αcτµαlly pδrταblε εxεcµταblε)
- Uses the fact that a Windows Portable Executable can be made into a UNIX 6th Edition shell script
- Portable, yet 100x smaller than the Go version of Hello World
Has a built-in BIOS bootloader, so it can also boot and run on bare metal

The well-known hacker Justine Tunney released the APE (αcτµαlly pδrταblε εxεcµταblε) format
APE is both a UNIX shell script and a Windows executable, so it runs anywhere: Mac/Win/Linux/BSD
Cosmopolitan is a LibC that, in this portable setting, makes C code runnable anywhere
With this APE and Cosmpolitan, the Redbean web server, which runs as a single file, was developed
Redbean is both an executable and a ZIP file, so it can embed all resources such as HTML/CSS/JS
Now, in Cosmopolitan 1.0, the Redbean web server can modify the contents of the Zip file that is itself
You can build Dynamic web pages whose content can be modified, yet it is still 1 file
Cosmopolitan libc - Build-Once Run-Anywhere C https://news.hada.io/topic?id=3489
Redbean - A web server that runs as 1 file https://news.hada.io/topic?id=3815

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