Ncurses Tutorial
Published 2/2026
MP4 | Video: h264, 1920x1080 | Audio: AAC, 44.1 KHz, 2 Ch
Language: English | Duration: 4h 14m | Size: 3.24 GB
Video description
This course introduces the development using ncurses library, include its panel, menu, and form extensions. Although GUI applications dominate the world, TUI (text-based user interface) programs still prove their value where X window is not available or the limited network bandwidth. Many popular tools developed on top of ncurses, like Midnight Commander, vi, nano, and htop, are still popular.
In this course, a TUI file management tool will be developed to demonstrate how to use ncurses library. Here are what you will learn
1. Basics of ncurses library, like ncurses initialization;
2. Introduce the terminal that ncurses relies on;
3. How to use window;
4. How to output text;
5. How to render text with the font type face like bold or underline, and colors;
6. How to read key input from user, or text from screen;
7. How to use mouse in a TUI program;
8. How to make a window scroll;
9. How to use pad, and what's the difference between window and pad;
10. How to use panel extension manage overlapping windows;
11. How to display a menu or a cascading menu;
12. How to use form to collect user's input, including multi-page form.
This course is also helpful, if you are going to use ncurses++, python curses module, or the Rust version, ncurses-rs. They share the same program model with ncurses.
Look forward to seeing you in the course.
Who this course is for
Developer curious with TUI (Text-base User Interface) program and curses technology
Developer curious with ncurses, or other ncurses wrapper library like ncueses++, Python curses module, or ncurses-rs
Ncurses Tutorial
