Small libc for embedded systems [closed]

Answer 1

You might want to look into the Embedded Artistry libc, which promises to be minimal and well-tested. It includes a malloc-free printf(). Disclaimer: I have not used it, but it appears well-structured and actively developed.

Answer 2

I had similar needs and found that klibc fit it quite well. The only downside (for commercial use) is that the distribution includes a few GPL-licensed files, even though most of it is BSD-licensed. I have hacked a minimal version of it here.

This is even more limited than PDCLib, and suitable if you just need a few basic functions such as printf and strtok. Compiles to just 4kB with all functions included.

Answer 3

Look into uClibc and EGLIBC, perhaps.

Answer 4

I use newlib on my Cortex_M3 with 32kB RAM, and to eliminate the malloc() you can use siprintf() or sniprintf().

Pro: No more calls to malloc().

Con: It does not suport formatting float and double, and is not really portable this way.

Answer 5

If you use newlib and do not implement the sbrk syscall, then any function you use that requires malloc will generate a linker error, which will prevent you from inadvertently using a call that requires dynamic memory . So I would suggest that you do that, and then simply avoid those functions that cause the linker error. You can modify or override any library functions you do not wish to use.

Answer 6

PDCLib might fit your needs. It's still incomplete [broken link], though, and probably in need of a lot more real-world testing. Its author goes by DevSolar here on SO.

update 2012-11-01: As of 2012-08-14, development has been taken over by Owen Shepherd, complete with a new homepage and bitbucket repository [broken link, use this one].

update 2015-10-31: The dedicated website seems to be dead, but the code can still be found on bitbucket. The last commit to that repository happened 2014-11-24.

update 2016-07-12: The website is back up, and DevSolar started committing again on 2016-03-01.