1Zstandard library files 2================================ 3 4The __lib__ directory is split into several sub-directories, 5in order to make it easier to select or exclude features. 6 7 8#### Building 9 10`Makefile` script is provided, supporting [Makefile conventions](https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Makefile-Conventions.html#Makefile-Conventions), 11including commands variables, staged install, directory variables and standard targets. 12- `make` : generates both static and dynamic libraries 13- `make install` : install libraries and headers in target system directories 14 15`libzstd` default scope is pretty large, including compression, decompression, dictionary builder, 16and support for decoding legacy formats >= v0.5.0. 17The scope can be reduced on demand (see paragraph _modular build_). 18 19 20#### Multithreading support 21 22Multithreading is disabled by default when building with `make`. 23Enabling multithreading requires 2 conditions : 24- set build macro `ZSTD_MULTITHREAD` (`-DZSTD_MULTITHREAD` for `gcc`) 25- for POSIX systems : compile with pthread (`-pthread` compilation flag for `gcc`) 26 27Both conditions are automatically applied when invoking `make lib-mt` target. 28 29When linking a POSIX program with a multithreaded version of `libzstd`, 30note that it's necessary to invoke the `-pthread` flag during link stage. 31 32Multithreading capabilities are exposed 33via the [advanced API defined in `lib/zstd.h`](https://github.com/facebook/zstd/blob/v1.4.3/lib/zstd.h#L351). 34 35 36#### API 37 38Zstandard's stable API is exposed within [lib/zstd.h](zstd.h). 39 40 41#### Advanced API 42 43Optional advanced features are exposed via : 44 45- `lib/common/zstd_errors.h` : translates `size_t` function results 46 into a `ZSTD_ErrorCode`, for accurate error handling. 47 48- `ZSTD_STATIC_LINKING_ONLY` : if this macro is defined _before_ including `zstd.h`, 49 it unlocks access to the experimental API, 50 exposed in the second part of `zstd.h`. 51 All definitions in the experimental APIs are unstable, 52 they may still change in the future, or even be removed. 53 As a consequence, experimental definitions shall ___never be used with dynamic library___ ! 54 Only static linking is allowed. 55 56 57#### Modular build 58 59It's possible to compile only a limited set of features within `libzstd`. 60The file structure is designed to make this selection manually achievable for any build system : 61 62- Directory `lib/common` is always required, for all variants. 63 64- Compression source code lies in `lib/compress` 65 66- Decompression source code lies in `lib/decompress` 67 68- It's possible to include only `compress` or only `decompress`, they don't depend on each other. 69 70- `lib/dictBuilder` : makes it possible to generate dictionaries from a set of samples. 71 The API is exposed in `lib/dictBuilder/zdict.h`. 72 This module depends on both `lib/common` and `lib/compress` . 73 74- `lib/legacy` : makes it possible to decompress legacy zstd formats, starting from `v0.1.0`. 75 This module depends on `lib/common` and `lib/decompress`. 76 To enable this feature, define `ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT` during compilation. 77 Specifying a number limits versions supported to that version onward. 78 For example, `ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT=2` means : "support legacy formats >= v0.2.0". 79 Conversely, `ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT=0` means "do __not__ support legacy formats". 80 By default, this build macro is set as `ZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT=5`. 81 Decoding supported legacy format is a transparent capability triggered within decompression functions. 82 It's also allowed to invoke legacy API directly, exposed in `lib/legacy/zstd_legacy.h`. 83 Each version does also provide its own set of advanced API. 84 For example, advanced API for version `v0.4` is exposed in `lib/legacy/zstd_v04.h` . 85 86- While invoking `make libzstd`, it's possible to define build macros 87 `ZSTD_LIB_COMPRESSION, ZSTD_LIB_DECOMPRESSION`, `ZSTD_LIB_DICTBUILDER`, 88 and `ZSTD_LIB_DEPRECATED` as `0` to forgo compilation of the 89 corresponding features. This will also disable compilation of all 90 dependencies (eg. `ZSTD_LIB_COMPRESSION=0` will also disable 91 dictBuilder). 92 93- There are a number of options that can help minimize the binary size of 94 `libzstd`. 95 96 The first step is to select the components needed (using the above-described 97 `ZSTD_LIB_COMPRESSION` etc.). 98 99 The next step is to set `ZSTD_LIB_MINIFY` to `1` when invoking `make`. This 100 disables various optional components and changes the compilation flags to 101 prioritize space-saving. 102 103 Detailed options: Zstandard's code and build environment is set up by default 104 to optimize above all else for performance. In pursuit of this goal, Zstandard 105 makes significant trade-offs in code size. For example, Zstandard often has 106 more than one implementation of a particular component, with each 107 implementation optimized for different scenarios. For example, the Huffman 108 decoder has complementary implementations that decode the stream one symbol at 109 a time or two symbols at a time. Zstd normally includes both (and dispatches 110 between them at runtime), but by defining `HUF_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_X1` or 111 `HUF_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_X2`, you can force the use of one or the other, avoiding 112 compilation of the other. Similarly, `ZSTD_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_SEQUENCES_SHORT` 113 and `ZSTD_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_SEQUENCES_LONG` force the compilation and use of 114 only one or the other of two decompression implementations. The smallest 115 binary is achieved by using `HUF_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_X1` and 116 `ZSTD_FORCE_DECOMPRESS_SEQUENCES_SHORT` (implied by `ZSTD_LIB_MINIFY`). 117 118 For squeezing the last ounce of size out, you can also define 119 `ZSTD_NO_INLINE`, which disables inlining, and `ZSTD_STRIP_ERROR_STRINGS`, 120 which removes the error messages that are otherwise returned by 121 `ZSTD_getErrorName` (implied by `ZSTD_LIB_MINIFY`). 122 123 Finally, when integrating into your application, make sure you're doing link- 124 time optimation and unused symbol garbage collection (via some combination of, 125 e.g., `-flto`, `-ffat-lto-objects`, `-fuse-linker-plugin`, 126 `-ffunction-sections`, `-fdata-sections`, `-fmerge-all-constants`, 127 `-Wl,--gc-sections`, `-Wl,-z,norelro`, and an archiver that understands 128 the compiler's intermediate representation, e.g., `AR=gcc-ar`). Consult your 129 compiler's documentation. 130 131- While invoking `make libzstd`, the build macro `ZSTD_LEGACY_MULTITHREADED_API=1` 132 will expose the deprecated `ZSTDMT` API exposed by `zstdmt_compress.h` in 133 the shared library, which is now hidden by default. 134 135- The build macro `DYNAMIC_BMI2` can be set to 1 or 0 in order to generate binaries 136 which can detect at runtime the presence of BMI2 instructions, and use them only if present. 137 These instructions contribute to better performance, notably on the decoder side. 138 By default, this feature is automatically enabled on detecting 139 the right instruction set (x64) and compiler (clang or gcc >= 5). 140 It's obviously disabled for different cpus, 141 or when BMI2 instruction set is _required_ by the compiler command line 142 (in this case, only the BMI2 code path is generated). 143 Setting this macro will either force to generate the BMI2 dispatcher (1) 144 or prevent it (0). It overrides automatic detection. 145 146 147#### Windows : using MinGW+MSYS to create DLL 148 149DLL can be created using MinGW+MSYS with the `make libzstd` command. 150This command creates `dll\libzstd.dll` and the import library `dll\libzstd.lib`. 151The import library is only required with Visual C++. 152The header file `zstd.h` and the dynamic library `dll\libzstd.dll` are required to 153compile a project using gcc/MinGW. 154The dynamic library has to be added to linking options. 155It means that if a project that uses ZSTD consists of a single `test-dll.c` 156file it should be linked with `dll\libzstd.dll`. For example: 157``` 158 gcc $(CFLAGS) -Iinclude/ test-dll.c -o test-dll dll\libzstd.dll 159``` 160The compiled executable will require ZSTD DLL which is available at `dll\libzstd.dll`. 161 162 163#### Deprecated API 164 165Obsolete API on their way out are stored in directory `lib/deprecated`. 166At this stage, it contains older streaming prototypes, in `lib/deprecated/zbuff.h`. 167These prototypes will be removed in some future version. 168Consider migrating code towards supported streaming API exposed in `zstd.h`. 169 170 171#### Miscellaneous 172 173The other files are not source code. There are : 174 175 - `BUCK` : support for `buck` build system (https://buckbuild.com/) 176 - `Makefile` : `make` script to build and install zstd library (static and dynamic) 177 - `README.md` : this file 178 - `dll/` : resources directory for Windows compilation 179 - `libzstd.pc.in` : script for `pkg-config` (used in `make install`) 180