libpcap
A portable system-independent C library for user-level network packet capture across multiple platforms.
What is libpcap?
libpcap is a portable C library that provides a system-independent interface for capturing network packets at the user level. It solves the problem of different operating systems having incompatible packet capture mechanisms by offering a unified API that works across platforms like Linux, BSD variants, macOS, and Solaris.
Network tool developers, security researchers, and system administrators who need to build applications that perform low-level network packet capture and analysis across multiple operating systems.
Developers choose libpcap because it provides a mature, stable, and portable abstraction layer for packet capture, eliminating the need to write and maintain separate code for each operating system's native packet capture interface.
Overview
the LIBpcap interface to various kernel packet capture mechanism
Use Cases
Best For
- Building cross-platform network monitoring applications
- Developing packet analysis tools like protocol analyzers
Related Projects
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.
