ZIG joins the party

27 Jul 2024

C++ was and is the superior programming language, because it can directly use the most important programming language: C.

Other languagues bring their unique improvements, but they all become complex, when it comes to interacting with C code (and of course the OS APIs, which are written C too).

But there is one newcomer, that can compete with C++ regarding C-flexibility:
The ZIG programming language.

ZIG code looks like simplified Rust or even Python code. It does not implement all heavy-weighted OOP flavors, but adds basic memory-safety features.

Regarding the GATE project, ZIG brings two major benefits:

ZIG is a full C compiler for all standard platforms
ZIG modules can directly include C headers and static/shared libraries

ZIG as a C compiler

ZIG is based on and contains the LLVM backend, including bindings to all major C runtime libraries that are in the fields today.
Cross-compiling is a zero-cost feature as all required dependencies are already part of the ZIG compiler.

Therefore the GATE framework can be built with ZIG as its standard compiler.

C compatibility

But the really great stuff is: Every GATE C header can directly be used inside ZIG programs.

The new goal is now to write a slim ZIG-wrapper library that covers native GATE-C-calls into an easy to use ZIG module.
It’s the same strategy we use in GATE C++, which just offers us a nice interface to the underlaying C codes.