zstd.exe : Command Line Utility, supporting gzip-like arguments
dll\libzstd.dll : The ZSTD dynamic library (DLL)
dll\libzstd.lib : The import library of the ZSTD dynamic library (DLL) for Visual C++
example\ : The example of usage of the ZSTD library
include\ : Header files required by the ZSTD library
static\libzstd_static.lib : The static ZSTD library (LIB)

Usage of Command Line Interface

Command Line Interface (CLI) supports gzip-like arguments. By default CLI takes an input file and compresses it to an output file:

Usage: zstd [arg] [input] [output]

The full list of commands for CLI can be obtained with -h or -H. The ratio can be improved with commands from -3 to -16 but higher levels also have slower compression. CLI includes in-memory compression benchmark module with compression levels starting from -b and ending with -e with iteration time of -i seconds. CLI supports aggregation of parameters i.e. -b1, -e18, and -i1 can be joined into -b1e18i1.

The example of usage of static and dynamic ZSTD libraries with gcc/MinGW

Use cd example and make to build fullbench-dll and fullbench-lib. fullbench-dll uses a dynamic ZSTD library from the dll directory. fullbench-lib uses a static ZSTD library from the lib directory.

Using ZSTD DLL with gcc/MinGW

The header files from include\ and the dynamic library dll\libzstd.dll are required to compile a project using gcc/MinGW. The dynamic library has to be added to linking options. It means that if a project that uses ZSTD consists of a single test-dll.c file it should be linked with dll\libzstd.dll. For example:

gcc $(CFLAGS) -Iinclude\ test-dll.c -o test-dll dll\libzstd.dll

The compiled executable will require ZSTD DLL which is available at dll\libzstd.dll.

The example of usage of static and dynamic ZSTD libraries with Visual C++

Open example\fullbench-dll.sln to compile fullbench-dll that uses a dynamic ZSTD library from the dll directory. The solution works with Visual C++ 2010 or newer. When one will open the solution with Visual C++ newer than 2010 then the solution will upgraded to the current version.

Using ZSTD DLL with Visual C++

The header files from include\ and the import library dll\libzstd.lib are required to compile a project using Visual C++.

The path to header files should be added to Additional Include Directories that can be found in project properties C/C++ then General.
The import library has to be added to Additional Dependencies that can be found in project properties Linker then Input. If one will provide only the name libzstd.lib without a full path to the library the directory has to be added to Linker\General\Additional Library Directories.

The compiled executable will require ZSTD DLL which is available at dll\libzstd.dll.