Zig

zig

Zig ecosystem for systems programming without hidden control flow.

Atomic Skills

Quick Start

# New project
mkdir myproject && cd myproject
zig init

# Build and run
zig build run

# Test
zig build test

# Format
zig fmt src/

# Cross-compile to WASM
zig build -Dtarget=wasm32-freestanding

build.zig (0.15.2)

const std = @import("std");

pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
    const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
    const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});

    const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
        .name = "myapp",
        .root_source_file = b.path("src/main.zig"),
        .target = target,
        .optimize = optimize,
    });

    b.installArtifact(exe);

    const run_cmd = b.addRunArtifact(exe);
    run_cmd.step.dependOn(b.getInstallStep());

    const run_step = b.step("run", "Run the application");
    run_step.dependOn(&run_cmd.step);

    const tests = b.addTest(.{
        .root_source_file = b.path("src/main.zig"),
        .target = target,
        .optimize = optimize,
    });

    const test_step = b.step("test", "Run unit tests");
    test_step.dependOn(&b.addRunArtifact(tests).step);
}

Core Patterns

Explicit Allocators

const std = @import("std");

pub fn main() !void {
    var gpa = std.heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}){};
    defer _ = gpa.deinit();
    const allocator = gpa.allocator();

    var list = std.ArrayList(u8).init(allocator);
    defer list.deinit();

    try list.appendSlice("hello");
}

Error Handling

fn readFile(path: []const u8) ![]u8 {
    const file = try std.fs.cwd().openFile(path, .{});
    defer file.close();
    return file.readToEndAlloc(allocator, 1024 * 1024);
}

// Usage with catch
const data = readFile("config.txt") catch |err| {
    std.log.err("Failed: {}", .{err});
    return err;
};

Comptime Metaprogramming

fn Vec(comptime T: type, comptime N: usize) type {
    return struct {
        data: [N]T,

        const Self = @This();

        pub fn dot(self: Self, other: Self) T {
            var sum: T = 0;
            inline for (0..N) |i| {
                sum += self.data[i] * other.data[i];
            }
            return sum;
        }
    };
}

const Vec3 = Vec(f32, 3);

Defer/Errdefer

fn process() !void {
    const resource = try acquire();
    defer release(resource);  // Always runs

    const temp = try allocate();
    errdefer free(temp);  // Only on error

    try doWork(resource, temp);
    // temp ownership transferred, no errdefer needed
}

C Interop

const c = @cImport({
    @cInclude("stdio.h");
    @cInclude("mylib.h");
});

pub fn main() void {
    _ = c.printf("Hello from C\n");
}

Version Detection

// Feature detection over version checks
const has_new_api = @hasDecl(std, "Build");
const T = if (has_new_api) std.Build else std.build.Builder;

Debug

std.debug.print("value: {any}\n", .{x});
std.log.info("structured: {}", .{data});
@breakpoint();  // Debugger trap

Cross-Compile Targets

# List all targets
zig targets | jq '.native'

# Common targets
zig build -Dtarget=x86_64-linux-gnu
zig build -Dtarget=aarch64-macos
zig build -Dtarget=wasm32-wasi
zig build -Dtarget=thumb-none-eabi  # Embedded

Related Skills

GF(3) Triads

zig(-1) ⊗ zls-integration(0) ⊗ c-interop(+1) = 0 ✓
zig(-1) ⊗ acsets(0) ⊗ gay-mcp(+1) = 0 ✓  [Schema coloring]
zig(-1) ⊗ babashka(0) ⊗ duckdb-ies(+1) = 0 ✓  [Build analytics]

SDF Interleaving

This skill connects to Software Design for Flexibility (Hanson & Sussman, 2021):

Primary Chapter: 2. Domain-Specific Languages

Concepts: DSL, wrapper, pattern-directed, embedding

GF(3) Balanced Triad

zig (−) + SDF.Ch2 (−) + [balancer] (−) = 0

Skill Trit: -1 (MINUS - verification)

Secondary Chapters

• Ch4: Pattern Matching
• Ch6: Layering

Connection Pattern

DSLs embed domain knowledge. This skill defines domain-specific operations.

Cat# Integration

This skill maps to Cat# = Comod(P) as a bicomodule:

Trit: -1 (MINUS/Validator)
Home: Prof
Poly Op: ⊗
Kan Role: Ran (right Kan extension)
Color: #3B82F6 (blue)

Why -1 (MINUS)?

Zig validates and constrains:

• No hidden allocations
• No hidden control flow
• No exceptions
• Explicit error handling
• Compile-time safety checks

The language itself is a validator — it refuses to compile unsafe patterns.

Philosophy

"Zig is not designed to make fancy high-level things. It's designed to make it easy to write correct low-level code."

• Explicit over implicit
• Compile-time over runtime
• No hidden control flow
• Allocator-aware by design
• C interop without FFI overhead