Buffer

Buffer.zig is a double-buffered cell grid for flicker-free terminal rendering.

How It Works

Write to the current buffer (buf)
Diff against the previous buffer (prev)
Emit only changed cells to the terminal
Swap buffers

This minimizes terminal I/O and eliminates flicker.

Color System

const Color = union(enum) {
    default,           // Terminal default
    basic: u8,         // 16-color (0-15)
    rgb: [3]u8,        // 24-bit RGB
};
 
// Comptime hex constructor
const green = Color.hex(0x4ade80);
const red = Color.hex(0xf87171);

Cell Style

const Style = struct {
    fg: Color = .default,
    bg: Color = .default,
    bold: bool = false,
    dim: bool = false,
};

Performance Stats

Every flush produces Buffer.Stats:

Field	Description
`cells_changed`	Number of cells that differ from previous frame
`cursor_moves`	Number of cursor repositioning sequences emitted
`style_emits`	Number of SGR (color/style) sequences emitted
`write_bytes`	Total bytes written to terminal
`flush_ns`	Time taken for the flush operation

Synchronized Updates

Frames are wrapped in terminal synchronized update sequences:

\x1b[?2026h    ← begin synchronized update
... cell data ...
\x1b[?2026l    ← end synchronized update

This tells the terminal to batch all changes and display them atomically, preventing partial-frame artifacts.