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brew

Install cweb with Homebrew

Literate documentation system for C, C++, and Java. Version 4.12.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified ยท 100%
brew install cweb

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Literate documentation system for C, C++, and Java

Commands and aliases

  • ctangle
  • cweave

history

Project history and usage

CWEB is Donald Knuth and Silvio Levy's literate-programming system for C, C++, and Java, pairing TeX documentation with source extraction through cweave and ctangle.

Project history

Knuth's official page explains that WEB originated while he wrote TeX, and that Silvio Levy adapted WEB to C in 1987. Knuth and Levy then revised and enhanced CWEB, including support for C++, ANSI C, and later Java-oriented use.

Adoption history

CWEB has stayed relevant less as a mass-market build tool than as a durable literate-programming reference implementation. The current GitHub project describes several decades of accumulated experience and treats the repository partly as software archaeology for original Levy/Knuth releases.

How it is used

CWEB authors write .w files that mix explanation, TeX markup, and program fragments. ctangle extracts compilable source, while cweave produces typeset documentation for humans.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, CWEB is a bridge between TeX culture and systems programming: it packages a historically important programming methodology, a stable pair of classic command-line tools, and a living archive of CWEB releases.

Timeline

  • 1987: Silvio Levy adapts WEB to C.
  • 1993: Knuth and Levy publish The CWEB System of Structured Documentation.
  • 2001: Third printing documents version 3.6 with hypertext extensions.
  • The ascherer/cweb repository carries release records and archival material.

Related projects

  • CWEB is related to WEB, TeX, CTANGLE, CWEAVE, CTWILL, TeX Live, and other literate-programming environments.

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for cweb. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 8 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
ctanglecliglobal executable
cweavecliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version4.12.2
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedcweb-4.12.2

https://github.com/ascherer/cweb

  • infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:cweb
Version4.12.2
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/cweb
Homepagehttps://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cweb.html
Repositoryhttps://github.com/ascherer/cweb
Upstream docshttps://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cweb.html
LicenseKnuth-CTAN
Source archivehttps://github.com/ascherer/cweb/archive/refs/tags/cweb-4.12.2.tar.gz
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namecweb
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Conflicts With
  • texlive
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Same workflow

  • asciidoctorjBoth packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: documentation, java.
  • biglooBoth packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: java, system.
  • groovysdkBoth packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: documentation, java.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Nucleus package database
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment