Your First Program

Now that your environment is set up and the Rust backend is compiled, let’s write your first memory-safe C program using NextStd.

We are going to replace the traditional, unsafe printf function with NextStd’s type-safe ns_println macro.

The Basic Program

If you are working inside the cloned repository, create a new file named hello.c inside the examples/ directory.

Add the following code to print basic text and variables:

#include "../include/ns.h"

int main() {
    // 1. Printing a standard string
    ns_println("Hello, World! Welcome to NextStd.");

    // 2. Printing an integer safely without format specifiers
    int version = 1;
    ns_print("NextStd Version: ");
    ns_println(version); 

    // 3. Printing a floating-point number
    double pi = 3.14159;
    ns_print("Value of Pi: ");
    ns_println(pi);

    return 0;
}

To compile and execute this program, open your terminal in the root of the NextStd repository and run:

make hello

Adding Terminal Colors

NextStd also provides a dedicated, cross-platform color module to help you build beautiful CLI tools. You don’t need to remember ANSI escape codes; you just include the header and use the macros.

Create a second file named hello_color.c in your examples/ directory:

#include "../include/ns.h"
#include "../include/ns_color.h" // Import the color macros

int main() {
    // Printing with a specific color and resetting it afterward
    ns_println(NS_COLOR_GREEN "Success: System initialized safely." NS_COLOR_RESET);

    // Combining styles like bold text with colors
    ns_println(NS_COLOR_CYAN NS_COLOR_BOLD "NextStd is running..." NS_COLOR_RESET);

    // Warning and Error colors
    ns_println(NS_COLOR_YELLOW "Warning: Low memory." NS_COLOR_RESET);
    ns_println(NS_COLOR_RED "Error: Connection lost." NS_COLOR_RESET);

    return 0;
}

Compile and run this exactly like the first one:

make hello_color

How It Works

If you are coming from standard C, the code above might look like magic. How does ns_println know whether to print a string, an integer, or a double without you typing %s, %d, or %f?

NextStd leverages C11’s _Generic keyword to inspect the type of the variable at compile time. It then automatically routes your data to the correct, memory-safe Rust backend function (e.g., ns_print_int, ns_print_double, or ns_print_str).

Because there are no format strings, there is zero risk of mismatched types causing undefined behavior or reading garbage memory from the stack. If you try to print a type that NextStd doesn’t support yet, the compiler will safely throw an error before the program ever runs.