4 ms·

Does anyone know if zigs reached the point of maturity to having solved most compiler bugs? I used it a couple years ago and it failed HORRIBLY for anything rea

by maldev 3y ago

Does anyone know if zigs reached the point of maturity to having solved most compiler bugs? I used it a couple years ago and it failed HORRIBLY for anything real I was throwing at it.

cdcarter 3y ago
I’ve been using zig for hobby projects for the last few months and have yet to run into a compiler bug. Tracking down comptime errors can be a little bit confusing, but I’ve found the compiler to be stable and useable.
voidbert 3y ago
Maturity to fix most compiler bugs? Yes, on x86_64 (some bugs remain on other architectures). But you can still expect your code to break between zig versions.
kristoff_it 3y ago
We switched to a self-hosted implementation of the compiler since then. The old compiler had various age-related issues, Cpp-related issues and it made little sense to fix it since the plan was to replace it anyway. The new compiler is a much better codebase and compiler bugs get fixed much more quickly and effectively.
j-pb 3y ago
The switch to the Zig implementation fixed a ton of bugs, but introduced way more new ones. I've used it in anger for almost a year and simply gave up at some point and switched to Rust because of the buggy build-ins and broken compiler error messages. Tbh I doubt that this situation will improve now that they bit off even more from the compiler cake after having more than they can chew already.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  > bit off even more from the compiler cake after Isn't the idea that bootstrapping the compiler let's people who only know zig contribute to the compiler? Might it be too premature to declare failure?
  - j-pb 3y ago
    In theory maybe, but after watching Andrew Kelleys latest talks I don't get the feeling that the Zig implementation is build for readability and correctness, but an experiment for exploring the design space of data-driven-design in compilers.
    - throwawaymaths 3y ago
      Would you dispute that there is a material improvement in compilation speed?
      - j-pb 3y ago
        Compilation speed is completely irrelevant if your codebase is so complex that you can't get it correct. rm -rf src Extremely fast and arguably safer than a broken compiler.
        throwawaymaths 3y ago
        Sounds like you're just looking for a reason to bitch at zig.
        j-pb 3y ago
        The only thing worse than Zigs immature compiler is the immature community.
        throwawaymaths 3y ago
        You must feel threatened by zig for some reason. Afraid that X language that you've put time in will be a sunk cost?
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
- amedvednikov 3y ago
  You can try out V, it's similar, but is very stable for its age: https://vlang.io https://vlang.io.

by maldev 3y ago

Does anyone know if zigs reached the point of maturity to having solved most compiler bugs? I used it a couple years ago and it failed HORRIBLY for anything real I was throwing at it.

cdcarter 3y ago

I’ve been using zig for hobby projects for the last few months and have yet to run into a compiler bug. Tracking down comptime errors can be a little bit confusing, but I’ve found the compiler to be stable and useable.

voidbert 3y ago

Maturity to fix most compiler bugs? Yes, on x86_64 (some bugs remain on other architectures). But you can still expect your code to break between zig versions.

kristoff_it 3y ago

We switched to a self-hosted implementation of the compiler since then. The old compiler had various age-related issues, Cpp-related issues and it made little sense to fix it since the plan was to replace it anyway. The new compiler is a much better codebase and compiler bugs get fixed much more quickly and effectively.

j-pb 3y ago

The switch to the Zig implementation fixed a ton of bugs, but introduced way more new ones. I've used it in anger for almost a year and simply gave up at some point and switched to Rust because of the buggy build-ins and broken compiler error messages. Tbh I doubt that this situation will improve now that they bit off even more from the compiler cake after having more than they can chew already.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
> bit off even more from the compiler cake after Isn't the idea that bootstrapping the compiler let's people who only know zig contribute to the compiler? Might it be too premature to declare failure?
- j-pb 3y ago
  In theory maybe, but after watching Andrew Kelleys latest talks I don't get the feeling that the Zig implementation is build for readability and correctness, but an experiment for exploring the design space of data-driven-design in compilers.
  - throwawaymaths 3y ago
    Would you dispute that there is a material improvement in compilation speed?
    - j-pb 3y ago
      Compilation speed is completely irrelevant if your codebase is so complex that you can't get it correct. rm -rf src Extremely fast and arguably safer than a broken compiler.
      - throwawaymaths 3y ago
        Sounds like you're just looking for a reason to bitch at zig.
        j-pb 3y ago
        The only thing worse than Zigs immature compiler is the immature community.
        throwawaymaths 3y ago
        You must feel threatened by zig for some reason. Afraid that X language that you've put time in will be a sunk cost?
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
amedvednikov 3y ago
You can try out V, it's similar, but is very stable for its age: https://vlang.io https://vlang.io.