StateSmith is a cross platform, free/open source tool for generating state machines in multiple programming languages. The generated code is human readable, has zero dependencies and is suitable for use with tiny bare metal microcontrollers, video games, apps, web, computers... It avoids dynamic memory allocations for the safety or performance inclined.
The above is my current plan, but I'll gladly help anyone add a new language. I'm hoping contributors will help me with this effort. It is tricky though...
The fundamentals-1 webpage has simple interactive examples that let you explore most StateSmith features.
Want to jump right in and just try it!?
The below tutorials use new StateSmith features that are more user friendly. They use different diagram tools, but mirror each other fairly closely otherwise.
- Tutorial-3 -
PlantUMLCLItext lessons - Tutorial-4 -
draw.ioCLItext lessons & 🎥 video series - older...
If you are new to state machines, then prepare to level up your toolbox! They are incredibly helpful for certain applications.
Why StateSmith? I couldn't find a quality state machine code generator that met my needs, had an attractive license, and was enjoyable to use.
Before I created StateSmith, it was always a pain trying to manually synchronize a hand written state machine with a drawing. Urgent client requests come in and you update the code, but do you and your team always remember to update the drawing? Probably not and so the rot begins. Documentation trust issues arise and as designs get larger, the effort to ensure the diagram is accurate starts to become quite punishing.
Now that we use StateSmith at my work, I never have to worry about the above. I love generating fully working code from the documentation. Incredibly helpful for teams and communicating with clients.
The StateSmith-examples repo has a growing list of examples showcasing different application uses.
We use StateSmith in a fair number of production projects at my work. It's been super helpful.
Other companies are using StateSmith in production as well (consumer electronics, autonomous vehicles, ...).
StateSmith has a strong suite of tests (730+) and behavior specification coverage. The specification integration tests read a diagram file, generate executable state machine code, then compile and execute that code in another process and ensure that the state machine behavior is exactly what was expected. The same suite of integration tests run for each supported programming language. This strong test base gives me confidence. It also allows us to refactor and optimize StateSmith without fear of accidentally breaking specified behavior.
The StateSmith GitHub wiki has a good amount of documentation right now, but always feel free to ask a question.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@statesmith
Join us on discord.
Feel free to open a github issue.
Or you can use the project's discussion space.