Comment by latch | Hacker News Reader

Comment by latch | Hacker News Reader

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Author here. I agree this is a less-than captivating piece. I write a lot about Zig and wanted something I could reference from other pieces.

But, to answer your question directly: absolutely. In addition to writing a lot about it, I maintain some popular libraries and lurk in various communities. Let me assure you, beginner memory-related questions come up _all the time_. I'd break them down into three groups:

1 - Young developers who might have a bit of experience in JavaScript or python. Not sure how they're finding their way to Zig. Maybe from HN, maybe to do game development. I think some come to Zig specifically to learn this kind of stuff (I've always believed most programmers should know C. Learning Zig gets you the same fundamentals, and has a lot of QoL stuff).

2 - Hobbyist. Often python developers, often doing embedded stuff. Might be looking to write extensions in Zig (versus having to do it in C).

3 - Old programmers who have been using higher level languages for _decades_ and need a refresher. Hey, that's me!

Hey, that's me too!

Also, from learning human languages, it's a well-known lesson that phrasebook-type "this means this" translations (like some here are asking, from Zig to C/Rust) are useful for quick and dirty learning good enough for one trip, but long term learning needs this kind of a direct explanation.

1. It avoids the word (or syntax in this case) getting stuck in a double-indirection state, needing you to mentally translate it from Zig to C to what it actually means every time.

2. It avoids the learner attaching the wrong nuances to the word or syntax feature, based on the translation they're given, when the language they're learning has different nuances. In other words, it helps the learner see it as its own thing, and not be unduly colored by what they already know and find easy to grasp on to (even when it's subtly wrong).

> Also, from learning human languages, it's a well-known lesson that phrasebook-type "this means this" translations (like some here are asking, from Zig to C/Rust) are useful for quick and dirty learning good enough for one trip, but long term learning needs this kind of a direct explanation.

This is also good when the user already knows the concept. Like, I'm a reasonably competent Rust user, and when I started playing around with Zig I already understood the majority of concepts at play and just needed to know how Zig spelled them. But I still needed that more in-depth explanation for concepts I was less familiar with (comptime being the main one).

> Not sure how they're finding their way to Zig.

Lots of popular Youtubers such as Primeagen (somebody who easily gets 200/300k+ views per video) have been speaking highly about Zig.

Perhaps add a brief paragraph, for C folks, that draws parallels between the Zig code and C. You never know, other readers may find it useful as well.

The author may not know C. As OP said, it's definitely the case that people interested in Zig may not have any interest in going through C first. They may eventually have to, as Zig interfaces heavily with C code and libs, but there's nothing wrong with going Zig first.

I really like your articles. Zig has some pitfalls and the official documentation can be a bit sparse.

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