Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig

The Zig compiler is not only a compiler for the Zig language. It is also the center of the Zig toolchain.

11 items

Section	Title
1	Zig Compiler Architecture
2	Zig Source Tree
3	Understanding Stage2
4	How Parsing Works
5	Semantic Analysis
6	Code Generation
7	LLVM Integration
8	Open Issues and RFCs
9	Contributing to Zig
10	Following Zig Development
11	Appendix A. Zig 1.16 New Features

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Zig Compiler Architecture

The Zig compiler is not only a compiler for the Zig language. It is also the center of the Zig toolchain.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Zig Source Tree

When you first open the Zig source code repository, it can feel overwhelming.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Understanding Stage2

When people talk about Zig compiler internals, they often mention stage2.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

How Parsing Works

Parsing is the part of the compiler that reads source code and turns it into structure.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Semantic Analysis

Semantic analysis is the compiler stage that checks what a program means.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Code Generation

Code generation is the compiler stage that turns analyzed program meaning into target code.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

LLVM Integration

LLVM is a compiler infrastructure project.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Open Issues and RFCs

A programming language is never only its syntax.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Contributing to Zig

Contributing to Zig means helping the language, compiler, standard library, documentation, tests, or tooling improve.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Following Zig Development

Zig changes quickly because it is still moving toward 1.0.

Writes › Book › Zig › Part 24. Reading and Contributing to Zig ›

Appendix A. Zig 1.16 New Features

Zig has not reached 1.0 yet. The current release line discussed in this book is Zig 0.16, not Zig 1.16.