bcf_reader

This is an attempt to create a small, lightweight, pure-Rust library to allow efficient, cross-platform access to genotype data in BCF files.

Currently, the rust_htslib crate works only on Linux and macOS (not Windows?). The noodles crate is a pure Rust library for many bioinformatic file formats and works across Windows, Linux, and macOS. However, the noodles API for reading genotype data from BCF files can be slow due to its memory allocation patterns. Additionally, both crates have a large number of dependencies, as they provide many features and support a wide range of file formats.

One way to address the memory allocation and dependency issues is to manually parse BCF records according to its specification (https://samtools.github.io/hts-specs/VCFv4.2.pdf) and use iterators whenever possible, especially for the per-sample fields, like GT and AD.

Note: This crate is in its early stages of development.