Part 1. Introduction and Setup

Zig is a programming language for writing fast, small, reliable programs.

11 items

Section	Title
1	What Is Zig
2	What Is Zig
3	Why Zig Exists
4	Installing Zig
5	Zig Release Channels and Versioning
6	Your First Zig Program
7	Understanding `zig build-exe`
8	Zig Compiler as a Toolchain
9	Project Structure
10	Editors, LSP, and Debuggers
11	Reading Zig Error Messages

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

What Is Zig

Zig is a programming language for writing fast, small, reliable programs.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

What Is Zig

Zig is a programming language for writing programs that are fast, clear, and close to the machine.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Why Zig Exists

Zig exists because low-level programming is still important, but the old tools have painful tradeoffs.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Installing Zig

Before we write more Zig code, we need the Zig compiler.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Zig Release Channels and Versioning

Before writing larger Zig programs, you need to understand an important fact:

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Your First Zig Program

Now we will write and run a complete Zig program.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Understanding `zig build-exe`

In the previous section, we used this command:

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Zig Compiler as a Toolchain

When beginners hear the word “compiler,” they often think of one job:

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Project Structure

So far, we have used single-file programs.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Editors, LSP, and Debuggers

You can write Zig code in any text editor.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 1. Introduction and Setup ›

Reading Zig Error Messages

Sooner or later, every Zig beginner meets the compiler.