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Gdstk (GDSII Tool Kit) is a C++ library for creation and manipulation of GDSII and OASIS files. It is also available as a Python module meant to be a successor to Gdspy.

Key features for the creation of complex CAD layouts are included:

Typical applications of Gdstk are in the fields of electronic chip design, planar lightwave circuit design, and mechanical engineering.

Documentation

The complete documentation is available here.

The source files can be found in the docs directory.

Installation

C++ library only

The C++ library is meant to be used by including it in your own source code.

If you prefer to install a static library, the included CMakeLists.txt should be a good starting option (use -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=path to control the installation path):

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --target install

The library depends on zlib and qhull

Python wrapper

The Python module can be installed via pip, Conda or compiled directly from source. It depends on:

From PyPI

Simply run the following to install the package for the current user:

pip install --user gdstk

Or download and install the available wheels manually.

From source

Installation from source requires the build module (plus CMake and Ninja, for faster compilation):

pip install --user build

With that, simply build the wheel package using:

python -m build -w

This will create a dist directory containing the compiled .whl package that can be installed with pip.

Support

Help support Gdstk development by donating via PayPal or sponsoring me on GitHub.

Benchmarks

The benchmarks directory contains a few tests to compare the performance gain of the Python interface versus Gdspy. They are only for reference; the real improvement is heavily dependent on the type of layout and features used. If maximal performance is important, the library should be used directly from C++, without the Python interface.

Timing results were obtained with Python 3.11 on an Intel Core i7-9750H @ 2.60 GHz They represent the best average time to run each function out of 16 sets of 8 runs each.

BenchmarkGdspy 1.6.13Gdstk 0.9.41Gain
10k_rectangles80.2 ms4.87 ms16.5
1k_circles312 ms239 ms1.3
boolean-offset187 μs44.7 μs4.19
bounding_box36.7 ms170 μs216
curves1.52 ms30.9 μs49.3
flatten465 μs8.17 μs56.9
flexpath2.88 ms16.1 μs178
flexpath-param2.8 ms585 μs4.78
fracture929 μs616 μs1.51
inside161 μs33 μs4.88
read_gds2.68 ms94 μs28.5
read_rawcells363 μs52.4 μs6.94
robustpath171 μs8.68 μs19.7

Memory usage per object for 100000 objects:

ObjectGdspy 1.6.13Gdstk 0.9.41Reduction
Rectangle601 B232 B61%
Circle (r = 10)1.68 kB1.27 kB24%
FlexPath segment1.48 kB439 B71%
FlexPath arc2.26 kB1.49 kB34%
RobustPath segment2.89 kB920 B69%
RobustPath arc2.66 kB920 B66%
Label407 B215 B47%
Reference160 B179 B-12%
Reference (array)189 B181 B4%
Cell430 B229 B47%