Comment by archargelod
2 months ago
> how dead-simple it is to cross-compile for other hardware platforms
The fact that zig can compile C code makes it useful for other languages too. I recently started using `zig cc` to cross-compile Nim for lots of different platforms within the same environment.
It takes no time to setup and, honestly, works like magic.
> The fact that zig can compile C code makes it useful for other languages too
Agree, C interop is IMHO the big feature of Zig. There are plenty of systems programming languages in 2025, but where Zig shines is its pragmatism: a single standalone binary containing compiler, libc, build system, code formatter and test runner for C and Zig.
As of late though, I've been concerned with some "holy wars"/"ideological postures" that the dev team started which IMHO departs from the original "let's be pragmatic" mantra.
- There's a bunch of places where the stdlib just crashes on unreachable assertions, and that won't be fixed "because the kernel should have better error reporting".
- There are a bunch of kernel syscalls which are just not possible to call "because C enums should not allow aliases"
- etc
I hope this trend fades away and it gets back on a more pragmatic stance on these issues, nobody wants a systems programming language that plays the programming police.
Otherwise, C3 looks promising as well (though not as nice than Zig IMHO), but currently it's a bit too barebone to my taste. There no stable LSP, no nvim plug-in, etc.
I like Perl mostly because it's poetic (the code is super nice to read, with variable types standing out thanks to sigils), but another core strength is how very fast and light it is.
Instead of "cross-compiling" or just running a native perl interpreter (there's one for about every platform!), I prefer how Actually Portable Executables make Perl multiplatform with just 1 binary asset running everywhere!
I wanted to write a webserver processing CGI to learn more about the "old school web", so I wrote https://github.com/csdvrx/PerlPleBean and the simplicity of just downloading and running the .com on anything is very nice
I'm now trying to do the same in Python3, but it's not as fun - and I'm not yet to the part where I will try to safely run python code within the python webserver, either through restrictedpython or ast.parse(), ast.walk(), eval(compile()) ...
I also choose Perl most of the time, but I think this is the first time I've ever heard anyone call it super nice to read
I've heard it called a "write-only language"
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My Perl code is super nice to read. :D
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The joke used to be that Perl code looked like an explosion in an apostrophe factory.
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Maybe he's used to K?
Perl was my first "real" language, i.e. the first one that actually "clicked" for me. Still holds a soft spot in my heart, even though I don't use it much these days. It's one of the few languages (along with Ruby, Erlang, and Zig) that I feel have made me a better programmer by learning them.
I like perl, because the code i wrote 20 years ago still works without issues.
Just wanted to say that I really dig your enthusiasm! I read most of PerlPleBean’s README and was smiling the whole time - APE was so exciting to read about when it came out, and your project may just inspire me to look more into what it can do!
Importing stuff fron CPAN used to be a nighthmare but I admit I have a sweet spot in my heart for Perl.