“Glib is a utility library for C that makes programming in C
much more enjoyable. There are and always have been other such
libraries, but none so popular and so well focused, so consistent
and full of features. Before learning about glib through GTK+/GNOME
I relied primarily on C. And, being a C programmer, I was jealous
of languages such as Perl and C++ with STL and their nice
containers and consistent data storage functionality. The C
standard library unfortunately has a large number of inconsistent
and low-level functions that work differently on different
platforms or are implemented only on certain platforms….”
“Glib’s most prominent and powerful aspect is its
containers, although it is also extremely useful in writing
portable code. Glib does not require you to restrict code to small
subsets of functionality that work on all target platforms, nor,
when you use glib, do you find yourself resorting to prayer as a
method of ensuring satisfactory implementation of your functions on
other platforms. It also provides utility functions more
consistent than the standard C library, though designed in a
similar spirit. Beyond all this, Glib touts the more exotic
features of a simple lexical analyzer and a main loop functionality
for event-driven applications.”