Odin ZeroMQ (libzmq) Bindings

Minimal, low-level Odin bindings for ZeroMQ (libzmq). The package exposes the libzmq 4.3.5 C API (enums, structs, and functions) and includes a few convenience helpers for common tasks. Example PUB/SUB programs are provided.

Requirements

• Odin compiler
• libzmq installed and discoverable by the system linker
  • macOS/Linux: links against zmq
  • Windows: links against libzmq.lib

Installing libzmq

• macOS (Homebrew): brew install zeromq
• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install libzmq3-dev
• Fedora: sudo dnf install zeromq zeromq-devel
• Windows: install ZeroMQ and ensure libzmq.lib is on your LIB path (e.g., via prebuilt binaries or vcpkg)

Layout

• zeromq/bindings*.odin: Low-level FFI declarations for libzmq
• zeromq/helpers.odin: Small helpers (send/recv strings, errors, etc.)
• examples/: Tiny PUB/SUB demo programs

Quick Start

Import the bindings into your Odin code (adjust the path to where zeromq/ lives in your project):

import zmq "./zeromq" // or a relative/absolute path appropriate for your project

Create a publisher and send a message:

ctx := zmq.ctx_new()
defer zmq.ctx_term(ctx)

pub := zmq.socket(ctx, .PUB)
defer zmq.close(pub)

assert(zmq.bind(pub, "tcp://127.0.0.1:5555") == 0)

ok := zmq.send_string(pub, "hello from odin")
assert(ok)

Create a subscriber and receive a message:

ctx := zmq.ctx_new()
defer zmq.ctx_term(ctx)

sub := zmq.socket(ctx, .SUB)
defer zmq.close(sub)

assert(zmq.connect(sub, "tcp://127.0.0.1:5555") == 0)
// Subscribe to all topics (empty filter) or a specific prefix
ok := zmq.setsockopt_string(sub, .SUBSCRIBE, "")
assert(ok)

msg := zmq.recv_string(sub, allocator = context.temp_allocator)
fmt.println("got:", msg)

Run the Examples

Two small PUB/SUB samples are included.

Example server (publisher):

odin run examples/server.odin -file

Example client (subscriber):

# Optional argument is the subscription prefix (default: "10001 ")
odin run examples/client.odin -file -- 10000

Helpers

Convenience procs in zeromq/helpers.odin:

• setsockopt_string: set string socket options (e.g., .SUBSCRIBE)
• send_string, send_string_more, send_empty: convenience message senders
• recv_string, recv_msg: receive into a string or byte slice
• print_zmq_error: print last ZeroMQ error with a readable message

Notes

• Target library version: libzmq 4.3.5 (see version macros in zeromq/bindings.odin).
• The bindings are intentionally thin; use the libzmq documentation for socket patterns and semantics.
• On macOS/Linux, the foreign import links to system:zmq; ensure your linker can find it.
• On Windows, ensure libzmq.lib is available to the linker.

Links

• Bindgen used as a starting point: https://github.com/karl-zylinski/odin-c-bindgen
• Original Odin ZeroMQ bindings (outdated compiler support): https://github.com/zpl-zak/odin-zeromq
• libzmq: https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq