Xlib

Xlib
Developer(s)X.Org Foundation
Initial releaseSeptember 1985
Stable release
1.8.12  / 9 March 2025 (9 March 2025)
Repository
Written inC
TypeLibrary
Websitewww.x.org, documentation: www.x.org/releases/current/doc/libX11/libX11/libX11.html

Xlib (also known as libX11) is an X Window System protocol client library written in the C programming language. It contains functions for interacting with an X server. These functions allow programmers to write programs without knowing the details of the X protocol.

Few applications use Xlib directly; rather, they employ other libraries that use Xlib functions to provide widget toolkits:

Xlib, which was first publicly released in September 1985, is used in GUIs for many Unix-like operating systems. A re-implementation of Xlib was introduced in 2007 using XCB.