Overview
In this hands-on chapter, we build a tiny, allocator-friendly path helper that plays nicely with Zig’s standard library and works across platforms. We’ll develop it test-first—then also provide a small CLI demo so you can see actual output without a test harness. Along the way, we deliberately introduce a leak and watch Zig’s testing allocator catch it, then fix it and verify.
The goal is not to replace std.fs.path, but to practice API design, test-driven development (TDD), and leak-safe allocation in a realistic, bite-sized utility. See 13__testing-and-leak-detection.xml and path.zig.
Learning Goals
- Design a small, composable API: join, basename/dirpath, extension, and change extension.
- Use allocators correctly and avoid leaks under success and failure paths. 10__allocators-and-memory-management.xml
- Practice TDD with
std.testing, and pair TDD with azig rundemo for visible output. 13__testing-and-leak-detection.xml
A small API surface
We’ll implement four helpers in the pathutil namespace:
joinAlloc(allocator, parts)→[]u8: join components with a single separator, preserving an absolute rootbasename(path)→[]const u8: last component, ignoring trailing separatorsdirpath(path)→[]const u8: directory part, no trailing separators ("." for bare names, "/" for root)extname(path)→[]const u8andchangeExtAlloc(allocator, path, new_ext)→[]u8
These functions emphasize predictable, teaching-friendly behavior; for production-grade edge cases, prefer std.fs.path.
const std = @import("std");
/// Tiny, allocator-friendly path utilities for didactic purposes.
/// Note: These do not attempt full platform semantics; they aim to be predictable
/// and portable for teaching. Prefer std.fs.path for production code.
pub const pathutil = struct {
/// Join parts with exactly one separator between components.
/// - Collapses duplicate separators at boundaries
/// - Preserves a leading root (e.g. "/" on POSIX) if the first non-empty part starts with a separator
/// - Does not resolve dot segments or drive letters
pub fn joinAlloc(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, parts: []const []const u8) ![]u8 {
var list: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .{};
defer list.deinit(allocator);
const sep: u8 = std.fs.path.sep;
var has_any: bool = false;
for (parts) |raw| {
if (raw.len == 0) continue;
// Trim leading/trailing separators from this component
var start: usize = 0;
var end: usize = raw.len;
while (start < end and isSep(raw[start])) start += 1;
while (end > start and isSep(raw[end - 1])) end -= 1;
const had_leading_sep = start > 0;
const core = raw[start..end];
if (!has_any) {
if (had_leading_sep) {
// Preserve absolute root
try list.append(allocator, sep);
has_any = true;
}
} else {
// Ensure exactly one separator between components if we have content already
if (list.items.len == 0 or list.items[list.items.len - 1] != sep) {
try list.append(allocator, sep);
}
}
if (core.len != 0) {
try list.appendSlice(allocator, core);
has_any = true;
}
}
return list.toOwnedSlice(allocator);
}
/// Return the last path component. Trailing separators are ignored.
/// Examples: "a/b/c" -> "c", "/a/b/" -> "b", "/" -> "/", "" -> "".
pub fn basename(path: []const u8) []const u8 {
if (path.len == 0) return path;
// Skip trailing separators
var end = path.len;
while (end > 0 and isSep(path[end - 1])) end -= 1;
if (end == 0) {
// path was all separators; treat it as root
return path[0..1];
}
// Find previous separator
var i: isize = @intCast(end);
while (i > 0) : (i -= 1) {
if (isSep(path[@intCast(i - 1)])) break;
}
const start: usize = @intCast(i);
return path[start..end];
}
/// Return the directory portion (without trailing separators).
/// Examples: "a/b/c" -> "a/b", "a" -> ".", "/" -> "/".
pub fn dirpath(path: []const u8) []const u8 {
if (path.len == 0) return ".";
// Skip trailing separators
var end = path.len;
while (end > 0 and isSep(path[end - 1])) end -= 1;
if (end == 0) return path[0..1]; // all separators -> root
// Find previous separator
var i: isize = @intCast(end);
while (i > 0) : (i -= 1) {
const ch = path[@intCast(i - 1)];
if (isSep(ch)) break;
}
if (i == 0) return ".";
// Skip any trailing separators in the dir portion
var d_end: usize = @intCast(i);
while (d_end > 1 and isSep(path[d_end - 1])) d_end -= 1;
if (d_end == 0) return path[0..1];
return path[0..d_end];
}
/// Return the extension (without dot) of the last component or "" if none.
/// Examples: "file.txt" -> "txt", "a.tar.gz" -> "gz", ".gitignore" -> "".
pub fn extname(path: []const u8) []const u8 {
const base = basename(path);
if (base.len == 0) return base;
if (base[0] == '.') {
// Hidden file as first character '.' does not count as extension if there is no other dot
if (std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, base[1..], '.')) |idx2| {
const idx = 1 + idx2;
if (idx + 1 < base.len) return base[(idx + 1)..];
return "";
} else return "";
}
if (std.mem.lastIndexOfScalar(u8, base, '.')) |idx| {
if (idx + 1 < base.len) return base[(idx + 1)..];
}
return "";
}
/// Return a newly-allocated path with the extension replaced by `new_ext` (no dot).
/// If there is no existing extension, appends one if `new_ext` is non-empty.
pub fn changeExtAlloc(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, path: []const u8, new_ext: []const u8) ![]u8 {
const base = basename(path);
const dir = dirpath(path);
const sep: u8 = std.fs.path.sep;
var base_core = base;
if (std.mem.lastIndexOfScalar(u8, base, '.')) |idx| {
if (!(idx == 0 and base[0] == '.')) {
base_core = base[0..idx];
}
}
const need_dot = new_ext.len != 0;
const dir_has = dir.len != 0 and !(dir.len == 1 and dir[0] == '.' and base.len == path.len);
// Compute length at runtime to avoid comptime_int dependency
var new_len: usize = 0;
if (dir_has) new_len += dir.len + 1;
new_len += base_core.len;
if (need_dot) new_len += 1 + new_ext.len;
var out = try allocator.alloc(u8, new_len);
errdefer allocator.free(out);
var w: usize = 0;
if (dir_has) {
@memcpy(out[w..][0..dir.len], dir);
w += dir.len;
out[w] = sep;
w += 1;
}
@memcpy(out[w..][0..base_core.len], base_core);
w += base_core.len;
if (need_dot) {
out[w] = '.';
w += 1;
@memcpy(out[w..][0..new_ext.len], new_ext);
w += new_ext.len;
}
return out;
}
};
inline fn isSep(ch: u8) bool {
return ch == std.fs.path.sep or isOtherSep(ch);
}
inline fn isOtherSep(ch: u8) bool {
// Be forgiving in parsing: treat both '/' and '\\' as separators on any platform
// but only emit std.fs.path.sep when joining.
return ch == '/' or ch == '\\';
}
For pedagogy, we accept either '/' or '\\' as separators on any platform when parsing, but we always emit the local separator (std.fs.path.sep) when joining.
Try it: run the demo (visible output)
To keep output visible outside the test runner, here’s a tiny CLI that calls our helpers and prints the results.
const std = @import("std");
const pathutil = @import("path_util.zig").pathutil;
pub fn main() !void {
var out_buf: [2048]u8 = undefined;
var out_writer = std.fs.File.stdout().writer(&out_buf);
const out = &out_writer.interface;
// Demonstrate join
const j1 = try pathutil.joinAlloc(std.heap.page_allocator, &.{ "a", "b", "c" });
defer std.heap.page_allocator.free(j1);
try out.print("join a,b,c => {s}\n", .{j1});
const j2 = try pathutil.joinAlloc(std.heap.page_allocator, &.{ "/", "usr/", "/bin" });
defer std.heap.page_allocator.free(j2);
try out.print("join /,usr/,/bin => {s}\n", .{j2});
// Demonstrate basename/dirpath
const p = "/home/user/docs/report.txt";
try out.print("basename({s}) => {s}\n", .{ p, pathutil.basename(p) });
try out.print("dirpath({s}) => {s}\n", .{ p, pathutil.dirpath(p) });
// Extension helpers
try out.print("extname({s}) => {s}\n", .{ p, pathutil.extname(p) });
const changed = try pathutil.changeExtAlloc(std.heap.page_allocator, p, "md");
defer std.heap.page_allocator.free(changed);
try out.print("changeExt({s}, md) => {s}\n", .{ p, changed });
try out.flush();
}
$ zig run chapters-data/code/14__project-path-utility-tdd/path_util_demo.zigjoin a,b,c => a/b/c
join /,usr/,/bin => /usr/bin
basename(/home/user/docs/report.txt) => report.txt
dirpath(/home/user/docs/report.txt) => /home/user/docs
extname(/home/user/docs/report.txt) => txt
changeExt(/home/user/docs/report.txt, md) => /home/user/docs/report.mdTest-first: codify behavior and edge cases
TDD helps clarify intent and lock down edge cases. We keep tests small and fast; they run with Zig’s testing allocator, which catches leaks by default. This chapter includes tests because the content plan calls for TDD; elsewhere we’ll favor zig run-style demos for visible output. See 13__testing-and-leak-detection.xml and testing.zig.
const std = @import("std");
const testing = std.testing;
const pathutil = @import("path_util.zig").pathutil;
fn ajoin(parts: []const []const u8) ![]u8 {
return try pathutil.joinAlloc(testing.allocator, parts);
}
test "joinAlloc basic and absolute" {
const p1 = try ajoin(&.{ "a", "b", "c" });
defer testing.allocator.free(p1);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a" ++ [1]u8{std.fs.path.sep} ++ "b" ++ [1]u8{std.fs.path.sep} ++ "c", p1);
const p2 = try ajoin(&.{ "/", "usr/", "/bin" });
defer testing.allocator.free(p2);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("/usr/bin", p2);
const p3 = try ajoin(&.{ "", "a", "", "b" });
defer testing.allocator.free(p3);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a" ++ [1]u8{std.fs.path.sep} ++ "b", p3);
const p4 = try ajoin(&.{ "a/", "/b/" });
defer testing.allocator.free(p4);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a" ++ [1]u8{std.fs.path.sep} ++ "b", p4);
}
test "basename and dirpath edges" {
try testing.expectEqualStrings("c", pathutil.basename("a/b/c"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("b", pathutil.basename("/a/b/"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("/", pathutil.basename("////"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("", pathutil.basename(""));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a/b", pathutil.dirpath("a/b/c"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings(".", pathutil.dirpath("a"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("/", pathutil.dirpath("////"));
}
test "extension and changeExtAlloc" {
try testing.expectEqualStrings("txt", pathutil.extname("file.txt"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("gz", pathutil.extname("a.tar.gz"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("", pathutil.extname(".gitignore"));
try testing.expectEqualStrings("", pathutil.extname("noext"));
const changed1 = try pathutil.changeExtAlloc(testing.allocator, "a/b/file.txt", "md");
defer testing.allocator.free(changed1);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a/b/file.md", changed1);
const changed2 = try pathutil.changeExtAlloc(testing.allocator, "a/b/file", "md");
defer testing.allocator.free(changed2);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a/b/file.md", changed2);
const changed3 = try pathutil.changeExtAlloc(testing.allocator, "a/b/.profile", "txt");
defer testing.allocator.free(changed3);
try testing.expectEqualStrings("a/b/.profile.txt", changed3);
}
$ zig test chapters-data/code/14__project-path-utility-tdd/path_util_test.zigAll 3 tests passed.Catch a deliberate leak → fix it
The testing allocator flags leaks at the end of a test. First, a failing example that forgets to free:
const std = @import("std");
const testing = std.testing;
const pathutil = @import("path_util.zig").pathutil;
test "deliberate leak caught by testing allocator" {
const joined = try pathutil.joinAlloc(testing.allocator, &.{ "/", "tmp", "demo" });
// Intentionally forget to free: allocator leak should be detected by the runner
// defer testing.allocator.free(joined);
try testing.expect(std.mem.endsWith(u8, joined, "demo"));
}
$ zig test chapters-data/code/14__project-path-utility-tdd/leak_demo_fail.zig[gpa] (err): memory address 0x… leaked: … path_util.zig:49:33: … in joinAlloc … leak_demo_fail.zig:6:42: … in test.deliberate leak caught by testing allocator All 1 tests passed. 1 errors were logged. 1 tests leaked memory. error: the following test command failed with exit code 1: …/test --seed=0x…
Then fix it with defer and watch the suite go green:
const std = @import("std");
const testing = std.testing;
const pathutil = @import("path_util.zig").pathutil;
test "fixed: no leak after adding defer free" {
const joined = try pathutil.joinAlloc(testing.allocator, &.{ "/", "tmp", "demo" });
defer testing.allocator.free(joined);
try testing.expect(std.mem.endsWith(u8, joined, "demo"));
}
$ zig test chapters-data/code/14__project-path-utility-tdd/leak_demo_fix.zigAll 1 tests passed.Notes & Caveats
- For production path handling, consult
std.fs.pathfor platform nuances (UNC paths, drive letters, special roots). - Prefer
defer allocator.free(buf)immediately after successful allocations; it makes success and error paths correct by construction. 04__errors-resource-cleanup.xml - When you need visible output (tutorials, demos), prefer
zig runexamples; when you need guarantees (CI), preferzig test. This chapter demonstrates both because it’s explicitly TDD-focused. 13__testing-and-leak-detection.xml
Exercises
- Extend
joinAllocto elide.segments and collapse..pairs in the middle (be careful near the root). Add tests for edge cases, then demo withzig run. - Add
stem(path)that returns the basename without extension; verify behavior for.gitignore, multi-dot names, and trailing dots. - Write a tiny CLI that takes
--change-ext md file1 file2 …and prints the results, using the page allocator and a buffered writer. 28__filesystem-and-io.xml
Alternatives & Edge Cases
- On Windows, this teaching utility treats both
'/'and'\\'as separators for input, but always prints the local separator.std.fs.pathhas richer semantics if you need exact Windows behavior. - Allocation failure handling: the demo uses
std.heap.page_allocatorand would abort on OOM; the tests usestd.testing.allocatorto systematically catch leaks. 10__allocators-and-memory-management.xml - If you embed these helpers into larger tools, thread the allocator through your APIs and keep ownership rules explicit; avoid global state. 36__style-and-best-practices.xml