On a larger scale than most suggestions so far, I’ve always been impressed with SQLite. The developers have managed to create a useful-in-the-real-world tool, small and efficient enough for even quite demanding applications like embedded systems work.
The original source code was solid and well documented in the parts I’ve seen, but the remarkable thing to me is the way they distribute it: it comes as a single ANSI C file and a single matching header, which they refer to as the “amalgamation”. It therefore works just about anywhere, has no packaging or dependency hell issues, can be be incorporated into any build process in moments, and can be statically linked and fully optimised.
The original source code was solid and well documented in the parts I’ve seen, but the remarkable thing to me is the way they distribute it: it comes as a single ANSI C file and a single matching header, which they refer to as the “amalgamation”. It therefore works just about anywhere, has no packaging or dependency hell issues, can be be incorporated into any build process in moments, and can be statically linked and fully optimised.