pico-printf implements sprintf, snprintf, and vsnprintf for embedded platforms. Its goal is to be very small (under 1 kB in minimal config), avoid using dynamic memory, and be customizable.

pico-printf implements basic subset of format specifiers: strings, chars, decimal integers. Optionally (enabled by compile-time macro declarations) it also supports octal and hex integers, binary integers via "%b", as well as floats.

Benchmarks and Alternatives

picoprintf is compile-time customizable. This lets you control the module's footprint and only use what you need. While the table below reflects the smallest possible (chars, strings, ints) and the largest possible (simple floats, hex, oct) footprints, the actual size will be somewhere in between, depending on features enabled via the compile-time macros.

Please note the actual values depend on the exact compiler used, build-time parameters, alignment, and other variables. Thus, the values below should be treated as relative.

The code size of this and similar libraries, as reported in .map file, adding up .text and .rodata segments in bytes:

target	picoprintf min	picoprintf full	mpaland	tinyprintf	nanoprintf
ARM thumb gcc 11.3.0	544	1406	4438	1528	2388
ARM 32 gcc 11.3.0	880	2318	6962	2372	3764
ARM 64 gcc 11.3.0	1192	2361	6582	3200	4612
ARM 64 clang 14.0.3	848	2044	5846	2401	4066
x86 gcc 9.4.0	697	1272	5022	3649	3681
x64 gcc 9.4.0	889	1592	5974	3782	2676

all values are collected by compiling with -Os flag

Usage

copy picoprint.h and picoprintf.c into your project
#include "picoprintf.h" wherever you need it
(optional) adjust the #defines in picoprintf.h to include options you need (this affects the footprint in your flash, ROM, or OTP)
(optional) #define snprintf pico_snprintf
enjoy!

Building This Project

this chapter discusses how this project is built for benchmarking. For instructions on using picoprintf in your project, see Usage above

embedded

copy the header and the .c file into any project, build it and notice the .map file

macOS

to build for native CPU:

clang picoprintf.c picotest.c -Os -Wl,-map,pico.map

calculate the size of the module:

cat pico.map | grep 1\] | grep -o -E '\t0x[0-9A-F]*' | sed 's/\t0x[^0-9A-F]*//' | awk '{ printf "%d\n", "0x" $1 }' | awk '{s+=$1} END {print s}'

Linux