FastCSV C Library Overview

FastCSV is a high-performance, memory-safe CSV parsing and writing library written in C with custom arena-based memory management. Designed for production use with zero memory leaks, comprehensive error handling, and enterprise-grade features including multi-encoding support and RFC 4180 compliance.

Why FastCSV C Library?

Traditional CSV processing can be slow and memory-intensive, especially when dealing with large datasets. FastCSV solves these problems by providing:

• 🛡️ Memory Safe: Zero memory leaks, validated with Valgrind
• ⚡ Ultra High Performance: 7.6M+ operations/second with optimized parsing
• 🎯 Custom Memory Management: Arena-based allocator for efficient memory usage
• 🌐 Multi-Encoding Support: UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32, ASCII, Latin1 with BOM support
• 📝 RFC 4180 Compliant: Proper quote escaping and multi-line field support
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration: Customizable delimiters, quotes, strict mode, and field trimming
• 📊 Advanced Reader Features: Navigation, seeking, header management, and position tracking
• ✅ Comprehensive Testing: 60+ tests across 6 test suites with 100% pass rate
• 🌐 Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like systems
• 📚 Library Ready: Designed for integration into larger projects and language bindings

Performance Benchmarks

Our extensive benchmarks show significant performance improvements:

Reading Performance: Up to 568K records/sec with arena-based memory management

Writing Performance: Up to 5.2M ops/sec with zero fragmentation

Memory Efficiency: 90% less malloc calls with predictable cleanup

Key Features

• Native C implementation for maximum speed
• Arena-based memory management for zero leaks
• Streaming support for constant memory usage
• Thread-safe operations
• Comprehensive error handling
• Full Unicode support with BOM detection
• Configurable delimiters and escape characters
• RFC 4180 compliant quote escaping
• Multi-line field support

Quick Example

Reading a CSV file:

#include "csv_reader.h"
#include "arena.h"

int main() {
    // Initialize arena allocator
    Arena arena;
    arena_create(&arena, 4096);
    
    // Create configuration with encoding support
    CSVConfig *config = csv_config_create(&arena);
    csv_config_set_path(config, "data.csv");
    csv_config_set_has_header(config, true);
    csv_config_set_encoding(config, CSV_ENCODING_UTF8);
    
    // Initialize reader
    CSVReader *reader = csv_reader_init_with_config(&arena, config);
    
    // Get headers
    int header_count;
    char **headers = csv_reader_get_headers(reader, &header_count);
    printf("Headers: ");
    for (int i = 0; i < header_count; i++) {
        printf("%s ", headers[i]);
    }
    printf("\n");
    
    // Read records with navigation support
    while (csv_reader_has_next(reader)) {
        CSVRecord *record = csv_reader_next_record(reader);
        if (record) {
            printf("Record at position %ld:\n", csv_reader_get_position(reader));
            for (int i = 0; i < record->field_count; i++) {
                printf("  %s: %s\n", headers[i], record->fields[i]);
            }
        }
    }
    
    // Cleanup
    csv_reader_free(reader);
    arena_destroy(&arena);
    return 0;
}

Writing a CSV file:

#include "csv_writer.h"
#include "arena.h"

int main() {
    Arena arena;
    arena_create(&arena, 4096);
    
    // Configure with UTF-8 and BOM
    CSVConfig *config = csv_config_create(&arena);
    csv_config_set_path(config, "output.csv");
    csv_config_set_encoding(config, CSV_ENCODING_UTF8);
    csv_config_set_write_bom(config, true);
    csv_config_set_strict_mode(config, true);
    
    // Initialize writer
    CSVWriter *writer;
    char *headers[] = {"Name", "Age", "City"};
    csv_writer_init(&writer, config, headers, 3, &arena);
    
    // Write data with automatic quoting
    char *row1[] = {"John Doe", "30", "New York"};
    csv_writer_write_record(writer, row1, 3);
    
    char *row2[] = {"Jane Smith", "25", "Los Angeles"};
    csv_writer_write_record(writer, row2, 3);
    
    csv_writer_free(writer);
    arena_destroy(&arena);
    return 0;
}

Getting Started

Ready to supercharge your CSV processing? Check out our Installation Guide to get started, or jump straight to the Quick Start tutorial.

Support & Community

FastCSV C library is actively maintained and supported. If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• 📖 Check the API Reference
• 🐛 Report issues on GitHub
• 💬 Join discussions in our GitHub Discussions