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Welcome to Crest 🌊

A production-ready, high-performance RESTful API framework for C and C++.

Overview

Crest is a modern, lightweight framework for building RESTful APIs in C and C++. Inspired by the simplicity of modern API frameworks, Crest provides an intuitive interface while maintaining the performance and control that C/C++ developers expect.

Key Features

  • 🚀 High Performance - Built for speed with minimal overhead
  • 🔧 Dual Language Support - Full support for both C and C++ projects
  • 📚 Auto Documentation - Built-in Swagger UI at /docs
  • 🎯 Simple API - Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
  • 🔒 Production Ready - Exception handling, validation, and error reporting
  • 🌐 Cross-Platform - Windows, Linux, and macOS support
  • 📦 Easy Integration - Install via xmake, Conan, or vcpkg
  • ⚡ Modern C++20 - Leverages latest C++ features
  • 🎨 Responsive UI - Beautiful, mobile-friendly documentation interface

Quick Example

#include "crest/crest.hpp"

int main() {
    crest::App app;

    app.get("/", [](crest::Request& req, crest::Response& res) {
        res.json(200, R"({"message":"Hello, World!"})");
    });

    app.run("0.0.0.0", 8000);
    return 0;
}

#include "crest/crest.h"

void handle_root(crest_request_t* req, crest_response_t* res) {
    crest_response_json(res, 200, "{\"message\":\"Hello, World!\"}");
}

int main(void) {
    crest_app_t* app = crest_create();
    crest_route(app, CREST_GET, "/", handle_root, "Root endpoint");
    crest_run(app, "0.0.0.0", 8000);
    crest_destroy(app);
    return 0;
}

Why Crest?

Simple and Intuitive

Crest provides a clean, modern API that feels natural to use. Whether you're building a microservice or a full-featured API, Crest gets out of your way and lets you focus on your application logic.

Production Ready

Built with production use in mind, Crest includes:

  • Comprehensive error handling
  • Request validation
  • Automatic documentation generation
  • Thread-safe request handling
  • Configurable timeouts and limits

Performance Focused

Written in C/C++ with performance as a priority:

  • Minimal overhead
  • Efficient memory management
  • Fast request routing
  • Optimized for high concurrency

Developer Experience

Inspired by modern frameworks for simplicity:

  • Automatic Swagger UI generation
  • Clear error messages
  • Extensive documentation
  • Rich examples

Getting Started

Ready to build your first API with Crest? Check out our Installation Guide and Quick Start Tutorial.

  • 📥 Installation

    Get Crest installed on your system via xmake, Conan, or vcpkg

    → Install now

  • 🚀 Quick Start

    Build your first REST API in minutes with our step-by-step guide

    → Get started

  • 📖 API Reference

    Complete C and C++ API documentation with examples

    → View API docs

  • 💡 Examples

    Learn from real-world examples and code samples

    → Browse examples

  • ⚙️ Configuration

    Configure Crest for your specific needs

    → Configure

  • ⚡ Advanced Features

    Explore middleware, WebSocket, database, and more

    → Learn more

Community

License

Crest is open source software licensed under the MIT License.