Motivation: Software in structural bioinformatics has mainly been application driven. To favor practitionersseeking off-the-shelf applications, but also developers seeking advanced building blocks to develop novelapplications, we undertook the design of the Structural Bioinformatics Library (SBL, http://sbl.inria.fr), a generic C++/python cross-platform software library targeting complex problems in structuralbioinformatics. Its tenet is based on a modular design offering a rich and versatile framework allowing thedevelopment of novel applications requiring well specified complex operations, without compromisingrobustness and performances.Results: The SBL involves four software components (1-4 thereafter). For end-users, the SBL providesready to use, state-of-the-art (1) applications to handle molecular models defined by unions of balls, todeal with molecular flexibility, to model macro-molecular assemblies. These tools can also be combined totackle integrated analysis problems. For developers, the SBL provides a broad C++ toolbox with modulardesign, involving core (2) algorithms, (3) biophysical models, and (4) modules, the latter being especiallysuited to develop novel applications. The SBL comes with a thorough documentation consisting of userand reference manuals, and a bugzilla platform to handle community feedback.Availability: The SBL is available fro
