[kwlug-disc] Go vs Zig

[Chris Frey]

On Fri, Oct 11, 2024 at 12:17:24AM -0400, William Park via kwlug-disc wrote:
> Just as I was planning to dive into Go over the weekend, someone in the list
> mentioned Zig.  So, I browsed a bit.
> 
> Why should I learn Zig when it doesn't even have "string"?

I'm not a Zig expert, but here are some cool things I do know about it:

	* Zig competes with C, instead of depending on it... Zig has
	  a history of implementing everything from the bottom up
	  on their own, and the language is designed in such a way
	  as to allow for more highly optimized code than C itself,
	  according to their docs.

	* Zig emphasizes portability... it is one of the very few build
	  systems that I know of that targets Mac OS with completely
	  open source code.  It's an area I still need to investigate,
	  but their cross compiling support and low level library
	  cross-platform support is pretty large.

	* In addition to the Zig language, it comes with full C and C++
	  support, included in all that cross-platform goodness.
	  If you want to use the Zig build systems as only a "better C"
	  or a "better C++", you can.

As for strings, I found this:

	https://www.huy.rocks/everyday/01-04-2022-zig-strings-in-5-minutes

Good luck,
- Chris