Zig GUI from Scratch
8 days ago
- #Cross-platform
- #Zig
- #OpenGL
- Author is building a cross-platform desktop GUI application using Zig, planning to open-source it eventually.
- Motivation includes learning, creativity, and avoiding frameworks to build from scratch for fun and challenge.
- Tech stack includes Zig for its novelty and comptime features, WebAssembly & Native for cross-platform support, OpenGL/WebGL for graphics, and SDL2 for windowing.
- Application structure focuses on comptime target-specific modules to handle platform differences, with a shared API across platforms.
- Discusses the use of JS system calls for WebAssembly, including JSON serialization for passing complex types to JS.
- Explores initial steps in creating a window with OpenGL/WebGL, including challenges and solutions for both native and web platforms.
- Considers the pros and cons of generating OpenGL bindings from the OpenGL registry versus manual editing for project needs.
- Reflects positively on Zig as a language and its community, appreciating its features and the creative process it enables.