Functional Programmers need to take a look at Zig
4 hours ago
- #Zig programming
- #systems programming
- #functional programming
- The author evaluates programming languages based on three axes: how well they express domain ideas with minimal noise, the ability to create correct-by-construction systems via type-system programming, and mean-time to a surprise (how much code can be written before implementation diverges from understanding).
- Zig's comptime feature is seen as a simpler and more flexible system for type-system programming, comparable to Haskell, and the author appreciates its ability to program without built-in notions like time, using concepts similar to monads for imperative or logic programming contexts.
- Garbage collection is criticized for creating performance ceilings and cognitive risks, as it discourages understanding of underlying machine execution, leading to bloated and slow software; Zig encourages manual memory management through arenas and allocators for better control and performance.
- Zig's IO system redesign in version 0.16 resembles a Reader monad from Haskell, showing alignment with functional programming principles, and its comptime allows for nominal typing, sum types (via unions), and typeclasses (via structs), enabling correct-by-construction programs.
- The programming language industry is stagnant due to misaligned incentives among academics, industry, and hobbyists, but Zig is innovating with features like comptime and manual memory management, making the author bullish on its future and potential to outperform languages like Rust and C++.