fake-log

A fake logging library that provides the same interface as Rust's log crate but with no-op implementations. Designed specifically for embedded scenarios where reducing memory footprint is critical.

Features

• 🚀 Zero Overhead: All logging macros are optimized away at compile time
• 📦 Full Compatibility: Provides exactly the same API as the log crate
• 🔧 No Dependencies: Supports no_std environments with minimal dependencies
• ⚡ Compile-time Optimization: Supports compile-time log level filtering
• 🎯 Embedded Friendly: Designed specifically for embedded and resource-constrained environments

Use Cases

• Embedded systems where memory usage needs to be minimized
• Production environments where logging should be completely disabled
• Testing environments where log output would be distracting
• Library development with optional logging support

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
fake-log = "0.1"

Basic Usage

Drop-in Replacement for log crate

If your project already uses the log crate, you can quickly replace it:

[dependencies]
# log = "0.4"  # Comment out the original log dependency
fake-log = { version = "0.1", package = "log" }  # Use fake-log as replacement

Your existing code requires no changes.

Direct Usage

extern crate fake_log as log;

fn main() {
    // These calls produce no output and allocate no memory
    log::info!("Application started");
    log::debug!("Debug info: {}", 42);
    log::error!("Error message");
    log::warn!("Warning message");
    log::trace!("Trace message");
    
    // Support for target parameter
    log::info!(target: "my_module", "Module-specific log");
}

Comparison with log crate

Examples

See complete examples in the examples/ directory:

cargo run --example basic
cargo run --example no_std
cargo run --example custom_logger

no_std Support

fake-log fully supports no_std environments:

#![no_std]

use fake_log::{info, error};

fn embedded_function() {
    info!("Running in no_std environment");
    error!("Error handling");
}

fake-log should perform best in all scenarios since it does nothing.

License

This project is licensed under MIT OR Apache-2.0, consistent with the Rust ecosystem.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome!

FAQ

Q: Why do I need fake-log? A: In embedded systems, even the lightest logging libraries can consume precious stack memory resources. fake-log provides a completely zero-overhead solution.

Q: Can I switch to real logging at runtime? A: No. fake-log is designed for compile-time optimization, and all log calls are removed at compile time.

Q: How can I use real logging during development and fake-log in production? A: You can use Cargo features and conditional compilation to achieve this switching.

Related Projects

• log - Rust's standard logging facade
• env_logger - Environment variable configured logger
• slog - Structured logging library