why should I use Zig coming from Python/Go ?
If you're coming from Python and Go, then producing the fastest possible program that uses the least amount of memory probably isn't your top objective. Zig is fast, but you're going to have to think about memory management and other things you take for granted in garbage collected language. Zig also has nowhere near the number of libraries that exist in Python or Go, so you'll be building a lot more stuff yourself.
Also, the simplicity of a language like Zig may be a hindrance if you're working with really big code bases. If you need something that will scale to really large projects, like say a web browser, you're probably better off in Rust.
If performance is not an issue and you want something that will let you focus on the program's logic rather than the implementation, Python is probably what you want.
If you're writing a microservice to run in a datacenter, you'll be up and running in Go much more quickly and the performance is probably good enough.
But if you're writing a program for an embedded or limited environment, or you need something that's simple and fast, then Zig is worth a look. And of course, Zig is worth a look because it's very simple and easy to learn so you can be up and running very quickly.
I wouldn't put those two languages in the same class. Go has about the performance of Java/C# with about the memory usage of C++. It's much closer in performance and resource efficiency to those languages than it is from a scripting language like Python.
Go is in the same ballpark than C#: a modernized C with GC, good productivity although not as good as a scripting language, and good performance although not as good as ANSI C. They're popular because they stand in that sweet spot.
Python is easier than Go or C# to pick up, but it's also 20x slower than C rather than 2-3x.
I could find countless other comments about this on HN, but here's the top hit in a quick search. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26632821
The syntax of Zig appears to be quite user friendly but not sure if there are hidden pitfalls.
I am excited for Zig but careful in adopting new languages but if this takes off, what sort of changes might we see? Cheaper C/C++ programmers?
Zig is very likely to appeal to people who loves C, or newcomers who are looking for performance.
The quality-of-life gains might lead to marginal changes in productivity/cost, but I would not bet on it.
It depends on what you are doing.
If your python code is mainly calling out to highly optimized math routines, well, not much.
If you are doing lots of computationally intensive work, quite a bit.
If your Python code does a lot of allocating of memory, throws around lots of large objects, or has to parse a lot of inputs, then moving to a native language can be very beneficial.
> I am excited for Zig but careful in adopting new languages but if this takes off, what sort of changes might we see? Cheaper C/C++ programmers?
Newer more powerful languages tend to result in more complex software being written. Ignoring CPU and memory limits, no one would have been capable of writing a modern AAA game with the tools available back in 1992.