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fmtlib/fmt

📈 Trending23,493C++Audience · developerComplexity · 2/5ActiveLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A modern C++ library for safe, fast text formatting with Python-like syntax and compile-time error checking, replacing printf and iostreams.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Format strings safely
      Print to output
      Handle dates and times
      Color terminal text
    Why use it
      Faster than printf
      Compile-time checking
      Cleaner syntax
      No dependencies
    Use cases
      Logging systems
      Building display strings
      File output
      Serialization
    Tech stack
      C++20 compatible
      Cross-platform
      Header-only option
    Audience
      C++ developers
      Performance-focused teams

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build logging systems that format messages safely and quickly without runtime overhead.

USE CASE 2

Replace printf calls in existing C++ code to catch format errors at compile time.

USE CASE 3

Format dates, times, and colored terminal output for CLI tools and user-facing applications.

USE CASE 4

Serialize data to strings for APIs, files, or display with a clean, readable syntax.

Tech stack

C++C++20

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

{fmt} is a modern C++ library for formatting and printing text. The problem it solves is that C++'s built-in ways to format output, printf from the C standard library, and iostreams (the cout style), are either unsafe, slow, or awkward to use. Printf uses format strings like "%d" and "%s" that the compiler can't check, so a mismatch between the format and the actual value causes crashes or wrong output. Iostreams are type-safe but verbose and slow. {fmt} gives you a cleaner syntax similar to Python's string formatting, where you write placeholders in curly braces: fmt::format("The answer is {}.", 42) produces "The answer is 42." The library catches format errors at compile time in C++20, so mistakes are caught before the program even runs. It also handles dates and times, colored terminal output, printing collections like lists and vectors, and writing to files. Benchmarks show it is faster than both printf and standard C++ streams. You would use {fmt} in any C++ project where you need to produce formatted strings or output, logging, building strings for display or serialization, or replacing slow printf calls. It has no external dependencies, works across platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows), and is licensed under the MIT license. It also implements the C++20 standard std::format interface, making code written with it forward-compatible with the standard library.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to use {fmt} to format a string with multiple values like fmt::format("Name: {}, Age: {}", name, age).
Prompt 2
How do I use {fmt} to print colored output to the terminal in a C++ program?
Prompt 3
Give me an example of replacing a printf call with {fmt} and explain why it's safer.
Prompt 4
How do I format dates and times using {fmt} in C++?
Prompt 5
Show me how to integrate {fmt} into a C++ project and use it for logging.
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