# Install cweb with Homebrew

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

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:cweb
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install cweb
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:cweb
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/cweb>
- **Version:** 4.12.2
- **Source summary:** Literate documentation system for C, C++, and Java
- **Homepage:** <https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cweb.html>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/ascherer/cweb>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cweb.html>
- **License:** Knuth-CTAN
- **Source archive:** <https://github.com/ascherer/cweb/archive/refs/tags/cweb-4.12.2.tar.gz>
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00

## Executables

- ctangle (cli)
- cweave (cli)
- ctangle (alias)
- cweave (alias)

## Install behavior

- Post-install hook: not defined
- Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-07-08
- Package-manager version: 4.12.2
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://github.com/ascherer/cweb
- Upstream latest detected: cweb-4.12.2 (current)
- info: No package-manager update timestamp was available.
## 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.

### Sources

- <https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/cweb.html>
- <https://github.com/ascherer/cweb>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ascherer/cweb/master/README.md>
- <https://github.com/ascherer/cweb/releases>


## Security Notes

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.


## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** cweb
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 0
- **Conflicts With:** texlive
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** stable


## Related links

- [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata.
- [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata.
- [Documentation packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/documentation-tools/) - Matched documentation, manual, or publishing metadata.
- [Web development packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/web-dev-tools/) - Matched web development metadata.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/cweb.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/cweb.yml)


## Sources

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