<curses.h> (typically <ncurses.h>) provides terminal control for building text-based user interfaces: window creation, cursor positioning, text attributes, and input handling. It translates portable abstractions into the right escape sequences for any terminal.

Use it to build full-screen TUI applications that work across different terminal types.

This example initializes ncurses, draws text at a specific position, and waits for user input.

// compile: gcc -o cursesexample cursesexample.c -lncurses
// run: ./cursesexample
// description: draw positioned text and handle input
 
#include <ncurses.h>
#include <unistd.h>
 
int main() {
    initscr();
    int h, w;
    getmaxyx(stdscr, h, w);
 
    mvprintw(h/2, w/2 - 8, "Hello, ncurses!");
    mvprintw(h/2 + 1, w/2 - 10, "Terminal: %d x %d", w, h);
    refresh();
 
    sleep(2);
    endwin();
    return 0;
}

Initialization and cleanup:

• initscr(): initialize ncurses, return main window
• endwin(): clean up and restore terminal
• refresh(): update screen display
• clear(): clear screen
• cbreak(): disable line buffering
• noecho(): disable echo of user input

Window management:

• newwin(h, w, y, x): create new window
• delwin(w): delete window
• mvwin(w, y, x): move window
• getmaxyx(w, &y, &x): query window size
• stdscr: standard screen (main window)

Cursor and output:

• move(y, x): move cursor
• mvprintw(y, x, fmt, ...): print at position
• mvaddstr(y, x, str): add string at position
• addch(c): add single character
• attron(attr), attroff(attr): enable/disable text attributes
• A_BOLD, A_DIM, A_REVERSE, A_STANDOUT: text attributes

Input:

• getch(): get character from input
• getstr(s): get string input
• scanw(fmt, ...): formatted input

Colors (if supported):

• has_colors(): check if terminal supports colors
• start_color(): enable color mode
• init_pair(id, fg, bg): define color pair
• COLOR_RED, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLUE, COLOR_WHITE, etc.: color constants