this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2025
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…The same Zig that ditched LLVM, to make their own compiler from scratch?
This is good. But also, this is sort of in character for Zig.
IIRC, the difference here is that Zig's plan had always been to make their own compiler, but had to use LLVM to get started and, more cynically, to try and get some LLVM contributors interested in the project so they could essentially poach them.
I am pretty sure I have seen a video interview of Andrew Kelley transparently saying that ages ago but I'll try and find it to link it here.
That’s interesting.
I dunno if that's any better. Compiler development is hard, and expensive.
I dunno what issue they have with LLVM, but it would have to be massive to justify building around it and then switching away to re-invent it.
LLVM is
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I've never even heard of Zig before today and it's right out of the gate with drama, cat fights, and public spats. Got to love the programming world.
I think that comes from Andrew Kelley having strong opinions, sometimes with harsh language added. It's like the internet is over-correcting for the much stronger and harsher early internet days, so he's admonished for being "unprofessional". I don't care for this sanded-down squeaky-clean vision of the internet that is being pushed for, particularly by the corporate crowd.
The Zig core team is pretty chill and pretty united around strong engineering ethos. And tbf their own compiler is pretty performant and produces similar level quality code. The argument that compiler dev is hard falls fairly flat when they are succeeding in developing their own compiler.
Tbh zig is as chill as an iceberg compared to rust! I really appreciate the mindset of "c with rough edges removed" that zig promotes. Already using it in our companies stm32 projects
Oh I did not mean to appear combative or being a contrarian. I don't even care about Zig or LLVM to be honest. I just thought that that clarification was sort of necessary seeing as the GitHub thing is a reaction to MS bullshit, whereas the LLVM thing at least seemed to me like it wasn't (initially) from some drama or a secret or anything.
Still, this is assuming I'm not just hallucinating what I am claiming.