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A general-purpose programming language and toolchain for maintaining**robust**, **optimal**, and **reusable** software.

https://ziglang.org/

Documentation

If you are looking at this README file in a source tree, please refer to the**Release Notes**, **Language Reference**, or **Standard LibraryDocumentation** corresponding to the version of Zig that you are using byfollowing the appropriate link on the[download page](https://ziglang.org/download).

Otherwise, you're looking at a release of Zig, and you can find documentationhere:

• * doc/langref.html
• * doc/std/index.html

Installation

• * [download a pre-built binary](https://ziglang.org/download/)
• * [install from a package manager](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/wiki/Install-Zig-from-a-Package-Manager)
• * [bootstrap zig for any target](https://github.com/ziglang/zig-bootstrap)

A Zig installation is composed of two things:

1. The Zig executable2. The lib/ directory

At runtime, the executable searches up the file system for the lib/ directory,relative to itself:

• * lib/
• * lib/zig/
• * ../lib/
• * ../lib/zig/
• * (and so on)
• In other words, you can **unpack a release of Zig anywhere**, and then begin
• using it immediately. There is no need to install it globally, although this
• mechanism supports that use case too (i.e. /usr/bin/zig and /usr/lib/zig/).
• ## Building from Source
• Ensure you have the required dependencies:
• * CMake >= 3.5
• * System C/C++ Toolchain
• * LLVM, Clang, LLD development libraries == 17.x
• Then it is the standard CMake build process:
• `
• mkdir build
• cd build
• cmake ..
• make install
• `
• For more options, tips, and troubleshooting, please see the
• [Building Zig From Source](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/wiki/Building-Zig-From-Source)
• page on the wiki.
• ## Building from Source without LLVM
• In this case, the only system dependency is a C compiler.
• `
• cc -o bootstrap bootstrap.c
• ./bootstrap
• `
• This produces a zig2 executable in the current working directory. This is a
• "stage2" build of the compiler,
• [without LLVM extensions](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/16270), and is
• therefore lacking these features:
• Release mode optimizations
• aarch64 machine code backend
• @cImport / zig translate-c
• Ability to compile C files
• Ability to compile assembly files
• [Some ELF linking features](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17749)
• [Most COFF/PE linking features](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17751)
• [Some WebAssembly linking features](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17750)
• [Ability to create import libs from def files](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17807)
• [Automatic importlib file generation for Windows DLLs](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17753)
• [Ability to create static archives from object files](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/9828)
• Ability to compile C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++ files
• However, a compiler built this way does provide a C backend, which may be
• useful for creating system packages of Zig projects using the system C
• toolchain. In such case, LLVM is not needed!
• ## Contributing
• [Donate monthly](https://ziglang.org/zsf/).
• Zig is Free and Open Source Software. We welcome bug reports and patches from
• everyone. However, keep in mind that Zig governance is BDFN (Benevolent
• Dictator For Now) which means that Andrew Kelley has final say on the design
• and implementation of everything.
• One of the best ways you can contribute to Zig is to start using it for an
• open-source personal project.
• This leads to discovering bugs and helps flesh out use cases, which lead to
• further design iterations of Zig. Importantly, each issue found this way comes
• with real world motivations, making it straightforward to explain the reasoning
• behind proposals and feature requests.
• You will be taken much more seriously on the issue tracker if you have a
• personal project that uses Zig.
• The issue label
• [Contributor Friendly](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22contributor+friendly%22)
• exists to help you find issues that are **limited in scope and/or knowledge of
• Zig internals.**
• Please note that issues labeled
• [Proposal](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Aproposal)
• but do not also have the
• [Accepted](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Aaccepted)
• label are still under consideration, and efforts to implement such a proposal
• have a high risk of being wasted. If you are interested in a proposal which is
• still under consideration, please express your interest in the issue tracker,
• providing extra insights and considerations that others have not yet expressed.
• The most highly regarded argument in such a discussion is a real world use case.
• For more tips, please see the
• [Contributing](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/wiki/Contributing) page on the
• wiki.
• ## Community
• The Zig community is decentralized. Anyone is free to start and maintain their
• own space for Zig users to gather. There is no concept of "official" or
• "unofficial". Each gathering place has its own moderators and rules. Users are
• encouraged to be aware of the social structures of the spaces they inhabit, and
• work purposefully to facilitate spaces that align with their values.
• Please see the [Community](https://github.com/ziglang/zig/wiki/Community) wiki
• page for a public listing of social spaces.