DEV Community

ZigLang The New Kid On The Block (😳)

I know what your thinking, oooh another post advocating for a new programming language that is blazing fast (like rust 🦀) and super safe (like a trojan 💪)

Zig is a modern, general-purpose programming language that aims to make programming as simple and straightforward as possible. With a clean syntax, strong type system, and extensive standard library, Zig provides developers with an enjoyable and productive experience. I mean because who really likes having to configure their build and run commands (that's right I'm looking at you C 🌊) But let's get to it, here are some of the reasons why you should try using Zig.

Easy to learn: Zig has a simple, straightforward syntax that is easy to understand and follow. The language is designed to eliminate confusing constructs and encourage developers to write clean, readable code. For this reason, I believe that Zig is a much easier language to learn and grasp as a beginner than as compared to other languages like Rust or C++. Both are great languages but the learning curve is huge for people who are not as familiar with typed and systems languages.

Strong type system: Zig has a strong type system that helps catch errors at compile time, making it easier to catch bugs and avoid runtime errors. Anyone who has ever built a large program or tool knows how important it is to have your data structures organized and clear.

Standard library: Zig comes with an extensive standard library that provides common functionality, making it easy to get started with writing programs. Functions such as a random number generator or a print function that most all programming languages provide.

Concurrency: Zig provides built-in support for concurrent programming, making it easy to write parallel programs that take advantage of multi-core processors.

Interoperability: Zig is designed to be highly interoperable with C, making it easy to use existing C libraries and integrate with other systems.

Here's an example of a Hello World program in Zig:

const std = @import("std");
const stdout = std.io.getStdOut();

pub fn main() void {
    stdout.print("Hello, World!\n");
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In this example, we first import the standard library with @import("std"). Then, we use std.io.getStdOut() to get a reference to the standard output stream. Finally, we define the main function, which uses the print method of the stdout stream to print the message "Hello, World!".

Try it out and see for yourself why Zig is a great language to work with!
The official ZigLang website is: https://ziglang.org
Also, check out this informative video by the creator of ZigLang Andrew Kelly: https://youtu.be/Z4oYSByyRak

Top comments (0)