# Description

LibSerial was created to simplify serial port programming on POSIX systems through a collection of object oriented C++ classes.

The SerialPort class allows simplified access to serial port settings and usage through a convenient set of methods. This class is useful for embedded systems where a complete C++ STL may not be available.

The SerialStream class allows access to serial ports in the same manner as standard C++ iostream objects.

Methods are provided for setting serial port parameters such as baud rate, character size, flow control, etc.

Here is short example using libserial:

    #include <libserial/SerialPort.h>
    #include <libserial/SerialStream.h>

    using namespace LibSerial;

    int main()
    {
       // Instantiate a Serial Port and a Serial Stream object.
       SerialPort serial_port;
       SerialStream serial_stream;

       // Open the hardware serial ports.
       serial_port.Open( "/dev/ttyUSB0" );
       serial_stream.Open( "/dev/ttyUSB1" );

       // Set the baud rates.
       serial_port.SetBaudRate( BaudRate::BAUD_115200 );
       serial_stream.SetBaudRate( BaudRate::BAUD_115200 );

       char write_byte_1 = 'a';
       char write_byte_2 = 'b';

       char read_byte_1 = 'A';
       char read_byte_2 = 'B';

       // Write a character.
       serial_port.Write(&write_byte_1, 1);
       serial_stream << write_byte_2;

       // Read a character.
       serial_port.Read(read_byte_1, 1);
       serial_stream >> read_byte_2;

       std::cout << "serial_port read:   " << read_byte_1 << std::endl;
       std::cout << "serial_stream read: " << read_byte_2 << std::endl;

       // Close the Serial Port and Serial Stream.
       serial_port.Close();
       serial_stream.Close();
    }

In addition to the C++ programming languge, LibSerial releases after version 0.6.0 also provide bindings to several scripting languages such as Python, Perl, PHP, Java, and Ruby. This provides developers a wide range languages to select when writing applications that need access to serial ports on POSIX compatible operating systems. LibSerial has received the most extensive testing on (Debian) Linux operating systems.