FMT: A Modern Formatting Library

FMT, originally known as cppformat and later fmtlib, stands as a modern yet open-source formatting library for C++. Its key purpose is to offer a fast and secure alternative to the traditional, and sometimes problematic, functions such as printf and sprintf.
From simple text formatting to binary formatting, FMT is globally acknowledged for its relevance. It simplifies code readability, enhances safety, and significantly increases software performance.

Project Overview:

FMT's goal is to bridge the gap between modern text formatting languages and the C++ programming language. The project mitigates the risks associated with printf-like format strings, such as buffer overflows, which have often plagued C and C++ projects. FMT predominantly targets C++ software developers who are in search of safer and efficient alternatives for text and binary formatting.

Project Features:

Two distinguishing features of FMT are the use of the curly brace format strings and type safety. In essence, FMT changes the standard formatting to a more Python-like syntax, making it easier to read and understand. Furthermore, FMT introduces type safety to the formatting functions, significantly reducing runtime errors and boosting execution speed. For example, a simple use case of FMT can be formatting a string to contain an integer value, like so: fmt::format("The value is {}", 42);

Technology Stack:

FMT is purely a C++ project, written in C++11 to be precise. C++11 was chosen due to its widespread usage and the plethora of features it offers. The project also integrates with certain parts of the C++ Standard library, utilizing its various components like strings and containers.

Project Structure and Architecture:

The FMT project follows a typical C++ library structure. There are underlying macros for determining compiler specifics, and wrappers for handling the utilization of the C++ standard library. It houses various source files each dedicated to specific parts of the library, like core, format, color, etc. Design patterns such as Singleton are employed to minimize resource usage and guarantee data integrity.