ECSM

Easy to use template based C++ Entity Component System Manager library.

The ECS pattern, or Entity-Component-System pattern, is a design pattern commonly used in game development and simulation software. It is a way to organize and manage the behavior and data of objects within a system. The ECS pattern is particularly useful for systems with a large number of entities that can have varying and dynamic sets of attributes.

See the documentation

Features

• Straightforward template architecture
• Acceptable compilation time
• Custom event creation support
• Custom system groups creation
• Cache friendly linear pools
• Fast component iteration
• Fast entity component access
• Smart pool item views (zero-cost)
• Deferred components destruction
• Singleton class pattern

Usage example

using namespace ecsm;

struct RigidBodyComponent final : public Component
{
    float size = 0.0f;
};

class PhysicsSystem final : public ComponentSystem<RigidBodyComponent, false>
{
    PhysicsSystem()
    {
        auto manager = Manager::Instance::get();
        ECSM_SUBSCRIBE_TO_EVENT("Update", PhysicsSystem::update);
    }
    ~PhysicsSystem() final
    {
        if (Manager::get()->isRunning)
        {
            auto manager = Manager::Instance::get();
            ECSM_UNSUBSCRIBE_FROM_EVENT("Update", PhysicsSystem::update);
        }
    }

    void update()
    {
        for (auto& component : components)
        {
            if (!component.getEntity())
                continue;

            // Process your component
        }
    }

    friend class ecsm::Manager;
};

void ecsmExample()
{
    auto manager = new ecsm::Manager();
    manager->createSystem<PhysicsSystem>();
    manager->createSystem<GraphicsSystem>(false, 123); // System arguments
    // ...

    manager->initialize();

    auto rigidBody = manager->createEntity();
    auto rigidBodyView = manager->add<RigidBodyComponent>(rigidBody);
    rigidBodyView->size = 1.0f;

    manager->start();

    delete manager;
}

Supported operating systems

• Windows (10/11)
• Ubuntu (22.04/24.04)
• macOS (15/26)

This list includes only those systems on which functionality testing is conducted. However, you can also compile it under any other Linux distribution or operating system.

Build requirements

• C++17 compiler
• Git 2.30+
• CMake 3.16+

Use building instructions to install all required tools and libraries.

CMake options

Name	Description	Default value
ECSM_BUILD_SHARED	Build ECSM shared library	ON
ECSM_BUILD_TESTS	Build ECSM library tests	ON

CMake targets

Name	Description	Windows	macOS	Linux
ecsm-static	Static ECSM library	.lib	.a	.a
ecsm-shared	Dynamic ECSM library	.dll	.dylib	.so

Cloning

git clone --recursive https://github.com/cfnptr/ecsm

Building

• Windows: ./scripts/build-release.bat
• macOS / Ubuntu: ./scripts/build-release.sh

Third-party

• robin-map (MIT license)

Special thanks to Sahak Grigoryan.