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Documentation Index

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LWXGL (Lightweight X11 Graphics Library) is a C shared library that lets you build native Linux desktop GUI applications directly on top of X11 without the overhead of a full toolkit. It exposes a flat C API: create a window, place widgets by ID, attach event callbacks, and run a frame-loop — all in under a hundred lines of code.

Installation

Build and install the shared library from source in two commands

Quickstart

Write your first LWXGL window with a button and event loop

Core Concepts

Understand the window lifecycle, element system, and color palette

API Reference

Full reference for every function in libLWXGL.h

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What’s inside

LWXGL bundles everything you need to build a functional desktop UI:

UI Widgets

Buttons, text labels, input fields, checkboxes, consoles, rectangles, and ellipses — all managed by integer IDs

Raster Graphics

Per-pixel image canvases with primitives: lines, circles, triangles, rectangles, and RLE sprites

Image Loading

Load indexed-color TGA and XBM files from disk or memory, capture screen regions

Events & Input

Keyboard, mouse, resize, scroll, and window-close callbacks with per-frame polling

16-Color Palette

Named palette constants with runtime modification — recolor your entire UI in one call

Modals & Scroll

Built-in alert, confirm, and input modals; scrollable window canvas with a scrollbar

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Key design principles

  • Flat C API — every function is a top-level C function; no objects, no vtables, no headers beyond libLWXGL.h
  • ID-based elements — widgets are created and updated via a caller-chosen integer ID, making element management predictable
  • Indexed color — all drawing uses a 16-entry palette of named colors (CLR_BLACK through CLR_WHITE), which can be swapped at runtime
  • Frame-rate loop — MainWindowLoop drives rendering at a fixed target FPS; your callback receives the tick count and delta time
LWXGL requires a running X11 display server. It is designed for Linux systems with Xlib installed (libx11-dev or equivalent).

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