physfs ☆

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Description:
Library to provide abstract access to various archives

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: library game-dev c archives filesystem

Install: brew install physfs

About:
PhysicsFS is a portable, file-access abstraction library that provides a consistent API for reading from various archive formats like ZIP, 7z, and GRP. It allows applications to treat files and archives as a single virtual filesystem, simplifying asset management. This is particularly valuable for game development where cross-platform data access is crucial.

Key Features:

Abstracts file access from archives and directories
Supports numerous archive formats (ZIP, 7z, Tar, Quake PAK, etc.)
Platform-independent C library with bindings for other languages
Manages write directories and user preferences securely

Use Cases:

Game development for unified asset loading across platforms
Applications requiring portable access to compressed data
Software needing support for legacy archive formats

Alternatives:

libarchive – More focused on creation/extraction, while PhysFS specializes in runtime virtual filesystem access.

Version History

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