Returning to Zig

3 hours ago

The author was initially drawn to Zig in 2020 as a promising replacement for C, appreciating its compile-time code execution and simple abstractions.
They left Zig due to instability, frequent breaking changes, and an immature ecosystem, switching to Rust for its stability and strong tooling.
Concerns about Rust's governance, including corporate influence and slow response to LLM-generated code policies, led the author to reconsider Zig.
In 2026, Zig remains unstable but familiar, with added features like a package manager, though its ecosystem is still limited compared to others.
Zig prioritizes simplicity over Rust-like memory safety, using release modes and testing to ensure safety, which the author finds acceptable for certain use cases.

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