Revolutionary zlob Library Shatters Globbing Performance Records

In a groundbreaking development that’s sending shockwaves through the developer community, zlob emerges as the ultimate globbing solution that’s not just faster—it’s up to 10x faster than the antiquated glibc implementation that’s been holding developers back for decades.

The Problem That’s Been Haunting Developers

Let’s face it: the standard glob() function in glibc has been a thorn in every developer’s side. It’s outdated, painfully slow, and lacks support for modern globbing patterns that developers actually need in 2024. Remember the last time you read through all those cryptic flags in glob(3)? Exactly—nobody does, because it’s been such a frustrating experience that most developers avoid it entirely.

Enter zlob: The Globbing Revolution

zlob isn’t just another library—it’s a complete reimagining of what globbing should be. This C library, Zig library, and Rust crate delivers 100% POSIX and glibc compatibility while introducing mind-blowing performance improvements and modern features that developers have been begging for.

Performance That Will Make Your Jaw Drop

The numbers speak for themselves. zlob delivers up to 10x faster performance in specific scenarios and consistently achieves 1.2-1.7x speed improvements in general use cases. How? Through a genius combination of SIMD-first implementation, direct getdents64 syscall usage, and intelligent pattern analysis that eliminates wasted operations.

Modern Features That Actually Matter

While glibc struggles with basic patterns like “.//.c”, zlob handles them effortlessly. It supports brace expansion (./{a,b}/.c), gitignore integration, and even bash’s extglob syntax. The library’s pattern analysis engine breaks down complex patterns into optimized components, making operations like “.//*.{c,rs,zig}” incredibly efficient.

Cross-Platform Excellence

zlob works absolutely everywhere—Windows, Linux, macOS, you name it. While it doesn’t yet support backslashes on Windows natively, it works perfectly under Cygwin, making it truly universal.

Developer-Friendly API

The library exposes a significantly improved API over the standard glob() function. It provides path length in output structures, making FFI operations much smoother, and includes specialized functions for globbing over lists of paths—perfect for scenarios where you already have a collection of filenames.

Real-World Impact

Consider this: the most common glob pattern “./*/.{c,rs,zig}” is the primary reason developers use glob in the first place. zlob optimizes this pattern through multiple avenues: direct getdents64 syscall usage for dramatically faster directory listing, optional gitignore-based directory skipping for massive performance gains, and SIMD bitmask matching that can process three extensions simultaneously.

Comprehensive Testing and Compatibility

The development team went above and beyond, converting and passing 100% of test suites from glibc, Rust’s glob crate, and Node.js’s fs.glob function. With over 450 glob patterns compared against glibc for identical results, zlob proves it’s not just faster—it’s perfectly compatible.

Flexible Flag System

zlob includes ZLOB_RECOMMENDED flags that provide modern globbing behavior without sorting output results, plus additional flags for specific needs like gitignore support, period matching for hidden files, extglob syntax, and more. The library even includes specialized functions like zlob_match_paths for efficient SIMD processing of path lists.

Easy Integration

Getting started is straightforward: install the Zig toolchain (version 0.15.2), then use standard make commands. While requiring Zig might seem like an extra step, it’s actually a benefit—Zig’s linker provides excellent cross-compilation capabilities for any native code.

The Name Game

Here’s a fun fact: “zlob” means “redneck” in several Eastern-European languages, but in Polish, it means “a manger”—which the developers find hilariously appropriate for a tool that feeds developers exactly what they need.

Licensing and Philosophy

zlob is released under the MIT license, making it free for commercial and personal use. The developers proudly note that no AI was used in creating the documentation—just good old-fashioned human expertise and passion for solving real developer problems.

Whether you’re building a compiler, a build system, or any application that needs efficient file pattern matching, zlob represents the future of globbing technology. It’s faster, smarter, and more capable than anything that’s come before it.

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