Welcome to the Exciting World of Zig! 🚀
Tags: zig, intro
Published: 2024-05-09 17:50:50


If you're looking for a programming language that combines efficiency, security, and a focus on performance, you've come to the right place!

One of the first things you'll notice when exploring Zig is its **focus on safety** and **error prevention**. The Zig compiler is strict and will help you detect issues at compile time before they become runtime nightmares. This not only gives you greater confidence in the quality of your code but also teaches you good practices to avoid common mistakes.

But Zig doesn't stop at safety. If you're passionate about **high-performance programming** and want to write code that makes the most of system resources, Zig is the right language for you. Its **clean and elegant syntax** allows you to write efficient and optimized code without sacrificing readability.

Moreover, learning Zig gives you the opportunity to delve into the world of **low-level programming**. With Zig, you can directly access memory and have precise control over system resources. This is especially useful if you're interested in developing embedded system applications, device drivers, or low-level solutions.

Zig is also an excellent choice for those learning to program. Through Zig, you can gain a **solid understanding of fundamental programming concepts**, such as flow control, data structures, and algorithms. At the same time, you'll broaden your perspective on programming and develop valuable skills for the future.

I won't lie to you: **Zig can sometimes bite 😬, but that's a good thing**. It's a language in full creation and evolves very quickly with incompatible changes and bugs. Furthermore, its determined focus on safety forces you to be aware of many aspects that other languages simply ignore (the price is paid later). But fear not, programmer, all this will make you stronger! 💪

As with any language, the first step is to write a classic "Hello, World" in Zig to see what it looks like and what feelings it produces:

Warning, programmer! This post uses version 0.13.0-dev.75+5c9eb4081 of Zig

```zig
const std = @import("std");

pub fn main() !void {
    const stdout = std.io.getStdOut().writer();
    try stdout.print("¡Hola mundo!\n",.{});
}
```
So far so good. It's very little code, but you can already observe some characteristics of the Zig language:

- **Focus on safety**: The use of the `try` statement to handle errors explicitly demonstrates the concern for safety and error prevention in Zig.

- **Clean and readable syntax**: The syntax of the program is clear and easy to understand, which facilitates reading and writing code in Zig.

- **Explicit resource management**: By obtaining the standard output writer through `getStdOut()`, Zig emphasizes explicit resource management, allowing for more precise and safe control.

- **Low-level orientation**: Zig allows direct access to memory and provides greater control over system resources, which is useful in low-level programming situations.

- **Focus on performance**: Zig is designed to deliver exceptional performance, which is reflected in the efficiency of the "Hello, World" program.

```bash
zig build-exe hello.zig -O ReleaseSmall -fsingle-threaded
```

produces an x86_64 GNU/Linux binary of less than 10 kilobytes and approximately 1000 instructions, comparable in size to the equivalent program written in [assembly](https://dev.to/tomassirio/hello-world-in-asm-x8664-jg7), but significantly larger than its 16 instructions. But much better than other trendy languages. The comparisons are odious.

```nasm
section .data
msg: DB '¡Hola mundo!', 10
msg_len EQU $ - msg

section .text
    global _start

_start:
    mov     rdx, msg_len
    mov     rsi, msg
    mov     rdi, 1 ; stdout
    mov     rax, 1 ; SYS_WRITE, write text to stdout
    syscall

    mov rax, 60 ; SYS_EXIT, terminate the program
    mov rsi, 0 ; successful exit
    syscall
```

So, Zig is very much well-suited for [WebAssembly](https://dev.to/muratcabuk/everything-all-about-webassembly-1jfi) (Wasm) development due to its optimized nature, similar to C. Its focus on performance, efficiency, low-level control, safety features, and straightforward syntax makes it ideal for Wasm applications, ensuring both speed and security in web development.

These qualities are just a small sample of Zig's strengths as a programming language. As you delve into Zig, you'll discover many more advantages that will help you develop efficient and reliable software.

See you, brave programmer!