Introduction to Zig for System Programming
What is Zig? Zig is a general-purpose, compiled programming language designed to create robust, optimal, and reusable software. It was created by Andrew Kelley and first appeared in 2015. Zig is often seen as a modern alternative to C, inheriting some of its syntax but adding several modern features and improvements[2]. Key Features of Zig Static Typing: Zig is a statically typed language, which means it checks the types of variables at compile time rather than runtime. Manual Memory Management: Unlike languages with garbage collection, Zig requires manual memory management, similar to C and C++. Compile-Time Evaluation: Zig has powerful compile-time evaluation capabilities, allowing code to be executed during the compilation phase using the comptime keyword[3][4]. Error Handling: Zig has a unique error handling system based on explicit error types and error unions, which helps in writing robust and error-free code[3][4]. Setting Up Zig To start with Zig, you need to install the Zig compiler. You can download it from the official Zig website or use package managers like Homebrew on macOS. ...