nim-mmcif 0.0.10

mmCIF parser written in Nim with Python bindings

nim-mmcif

Fast mmCIF (Macromolecular Crystallographic Information File) parser written in Nim with Python bindings via nimporter.

The goal of this repository is to experiment with vibe coding while building something useful for bioinformatics community, to see how much of a cross platform library can be driven to completion by transformers

Features

• 🚀 High-performance parsing of mmCIF files using Nim
• 🐍 Seamless Python integration via nimporter
• 🌍 Cross-platform support (Linux, macOS, Windows)
• 🏗️ Automatic compilation on import
• 📦 Easy installation via pip

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Nim compiler (see platform-specific instructions)

From PyPI (when available)

pip install nim-mmcif

From Source

# Install Nim (platform-specific, see below)
# macOS: brew install nim
# Linux: curl https://nim-lang.org/choosenim/init.sh -sSf | sh
# Windows: scoop install nim

# Install the package
git clone https://github.com/lucidrains/nim-mmcif
cd nim-mmcif
pip install -e .

For detailed platform-specific instructions, see CROSS_PLATFORM.md.

Quick Start

import nim_mmcif

# Parse an mmCIF file
data = nim_mmcif.parse_mmcif("path/to/file.mmcif")
print(f"Found {len(data['atoms'])} atoms")

# Get atom count directly
count = nim_mmcif.get_atom_count("path/to/file.mmcif")
print(f"File contains {count} atoms")

# Get all atoms with their properties
atoms = nim_mmcif.get_atoms("path/to/file.mmcif")
for atom in atoms[:5]:  # Print first 5 atoms
    print(f"Atom {atom['id']}: {atom['label_atom_id']} at ({atom['x']}, {atom['y']}, {atom['z']})")

# Get just the 3D coordinates
positions = nim_mmcif.get_atom_positions("path/to/file.mmcif")
for i, (x, y, z) in enumerate(positions[:5]):
    print(f"Position {i}: ({x:.3f}, {y:.3f}, {z:.3f})")

API Reference

Functions

parse_mmcif(filepath: str) -> dict

Parse an mmCIF file and return a dictionary with parsed data.

get_atom_count(filepath: str) -> int

Get the number of atoms in an mmCIF file.

get_atoms(filepath: str) -> list[dict]

Get all atoms from an mmCIF file as a list of dictionaries.

get_atom_positions(filepath: str) -> list[tuple[float, float, float]]

Get 3D coordinates of all atoms as a list of (x, y, z) tuples.

Atom Properties

Each atom dictionary contains:

• type: Record type (ATOM or HETATM)
• id: Atom serial number
• label_atom_id: Atom name
• label_comp_id: Residue name
• label_asym_id: Chain identifier
• label_seq_id: Residue sequence number
• x, y, z: 3D coordinates (aliases for Cartn_x, Cartn_y, Cartn_z)
• occupancy: Occupancy factor
• B_iso_or_equiv: B-factor
• And more...

Platform Support

Platform	Architecture	Python	Status
Linux	x64, ARM64	3.8-3.12	✅
macOS	x64, ARM64	3.8-3.12	✅
Windows	x64	3.8-3.12	✅

Building from Source

Automatic Build

python build_nim.py

Manual Build

cd nim_mmcif
nim c --app:lib --out:nim_mmcif.so nim_mmcif.nim  # Linux/macOS
nim c --app:lib --out:nim_mmcif.pyd nim_mmcif.nim  # Windows

Development

Running Tests

pip install pytest
pytest tests/ -v

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests
5. Submit a pull request

Documentation

• Cross-Platform Guide - Platform-specific build instructions
• Nimporter Setup - Details on nimporter integration

Performance

The Nim implementation provides significant performance improvements over pure Python parsers, especially for large mmCIF files commonly used in structural biology.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Nim for high performance
• Python integration via nimporter and nimpy
• mmCIF format specification from wwPDB