# IACore (Independent Architecture Core)
## ๐ Description
IACore is a high-performance C++20 foundation library bundling essential systems (IPC, Logging, Networking, Compression, and Async Scheduling) into a single, coherent API.
Originally developed as the internal core for IASoft (PVT) LTD., it is now open-source to provide a standardized bedrock for C++ applications where performance matters.
## โจ Features
* **๐ High-Performance IPC:** Shared-Memory Ring Buffers with wait-free SPSC synchronization.
* **๐ Networking:** Integrated HTTP/HTTPS client (wrapper around `cpp-httplib` with automatic Zlib/Gzip handling).
* **๐งต Async Scheduler:** A job system with high/normal priority queues.
* **๐พ File I/O:** Memory-mapped file operations and optimized binary stream readers/writers.
* **๐ฆ Compression:** Unified API for Zlib, Gzip, and Zstd.
* **๐ Logging:** Thread-safe, colored console and disk logging.
* **โก Modern C++:** Heavily utilizes modern C++20 concepts, `std::span`, and `tl::expected` for error handling.
## ๐ก Usage Examples
### 1. IPC (Manager & Node)
IACore provides a manager/node architecture using shared memory.
#### Manager:
```C++
#include
// Spawns a child process and connects via Shared Memory
auto nodeID = manager.SpawnNode("MyChildNodeExe");
manager.WaitTillNodeIsOnline(*nodeID);
// Send data with zero-copy overhead
String msg = "Hello Node";
manager.SendPacket(*nodeID, 100, {(PCUINT8)msg.data(), msg.size()});
```
#### Node:
```C++
#include
class Node : public IACore::IPC_Node {
public:
void OnSignal(uint8_t signal) override {
// Handle signals
}
void OnPacket(uint16_t packetID, std::span payload) override {
// Handle packets
}
};
int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
// The connection string is passed as the first argument by the Manager
if (argc < 2) return -1;
Node node;
// Connect back to the manager via Shared Memory
if (!node.Connect(argv[1])) return -1;
while(true) {
node.Update();
}
return 0;
}
```
### 2. Async Jobs
```C++
#include
// Initialize worker threads (hardware_concurrency - 2)
IACore::AsyncOps::InitializeScheduler();
// Schedule a task
IACore::AsyncOps::Schedule *mySchedule = new IACore::AsyncOps::Schedule();
IACore::AsyncOps::ScheduleTask([](auto workerID) {
printf("Running on worker %d\n", workerID);
}, 0, mySchedule);
// Wait for completion
IACore::AsyncOps::WaitForScheduleCompletion(mySchedule);
```
### 3. HTTP Request
```C++
#include
IACore::HttpClient client("https://api.example.com");
auto res = client.JsonGet("/data", {});
if (res) {
std::cout << "Data: " << res->value << "\n";
} else {
std::cerr << "Error: " << res.error() << "\n";
}
```
## ๐ ๏ธ Integration
IACore is built with CMake. You can include it in your project via `FetchContent` or by adding it as a subdirectory.
**Note:** On Windows, you must have **VCPKG** installed and the `VCPKG_ROOT` environment variable set, for OpenSSL support.
### CMake Example
```cmake
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.28)
project(MyGame)
# Or you can use FetchContent
add_subdirectory(external/IACore)
# Apply IACore's standard project configuration
# This applies C++20 and strict warning flags globally to your targets.
iacore_setup_project()
# Define your targets
add_executable(MyGame src/main.cpp)
# Link IACore
target_link_libraries(MyGame PRIVATE IACore)
```
## ๐ค Contributing
We welcome contributions from the community!
### What we accept immediately:
* **๐ Documentation:** Improvements to comments, the README, or external docs.
* **๐งช Tests:** New unit tests (in `Tests/`) to improve coverage or reproduce bugs.
* **๐ก Examples:** New usage examples or sample projects.
* **๐ Bug Reports:** detailed issues describing reproduction steps are highly valued.
### Core Library Policy (`Src/` Directory)
Currently, **we are not accepting Pull Requests that modify the core source code (`Src/`)**.
If you find a critical bug in `Src/`, please open an **Issue** rather than a PR, and the core team will implement a fix ASAP.
## ๐ฆ Dependencies
IACore manages its own dependencies via CMake's FetchContent. You do not need to install these manually:
* **JSON:** `glaze`
* **SIMD:** `google-highway`
* **Networking:** `cpp-httplib`
* **Compression:** `zlib-ng` & `zstd`
* **Utilities:** `tl-expected` & `unordered_dense`
**Note:** Following dependencies are not directly used by IACore, but bundles them (+ helper wrappers) for user convenience: `nlohmann_json`, `simdjson`, `pugixml`
## โ๏ธ License
This project is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0.
## ๐ค Use of Generative AI at IASoft
While we never let Generative AI to make architecural/design decisions, and we hand-write almost all of the implementations, we do use Generative AI (Google Gemini) for the following and *(ONLY following)* tasks:
1) **Controlled Repititive Boilerplate Generation:** Each and **every single line of AI generated code** is **manually reviewed** one-by-one for hallucinations and logic errors. Trust, but verify.
2) **Concept Research and Development:** Design pattern comparisions, cost-benefit analysis and as a second pair of eyes to evalute and critique our design decisions.
3) **Documentation:** Repititive method doc strings (parameter, return value descriptions) are done mostly using Generative AI.
4) **Code Review:** Automated logic checking and static analysis on top of deterministic tools.