Zig Examples

This project contains four examples demonstrating different aspects of the Zig programming language:

1. A basic command-line program showcasing fundamental Zig features
2. A simple GUI application using SDL2
3. A vector operations example with interactive visualization
4. A matrix operations example using comptime features

Prerequisites

• Zig (0.13.0 or later)
• SDL2 (for the GUI example)
• macOS with Apple Silicon (M1/M2) or modify paths for your system

Installation on macOS

# Install Zig
brew install zig

# Install SDL2 (required for GUI example)
brew install sdl2

Building and Running

The project includes four examples that can be built and run separately. After building, the executables can be found in the zig-out/bin/ directory:

• zig-out/bin/basic - The basic command-line example
• zig-out/bin/gui - The GUI application
• zig-out/bin/vector - The vector operations example
• zig-out/bin/matrix - The matrix operations example

Basic Example

Demonstrates fundamental Zig features including:

• Functions
• Structs with methods
• Error handling
• String formatting
• Basic types

# Build all targets
zig build

# Run the basic example directly
./zig-out/bin/basic

# Or use zig build command
zig build run-basic

GUI Example

Shows how to create a simple GUI application using SDL2:

• Window creation
• Event handling
• Basic graphics rendering
• Keyboard input
• Game loop implementation

# Build all targets
zig build

# Run the GUI example directly
./zig-out/bin/gui

# Or use zig build command
zig build run-gui

Vector Example

Demonstrates Zig's SIMD vector operations with an interactive visualization:

• Vector arithmetic operations
• SIMD instructions usage
• Interactive web visualization
• Real-time computation

# Build all targets
zig build

# Run the vector example directly
./zig-out/bin/vector

# Or use zig build command
zig build vector

Matrix Example

Showcases advanced Zig features using matrix operations:

• Generic programming with comptime
• Compile-time error checking
• Struct methods
• Array operations
• Formatted printing

# Build all targets
zig build

# Run the matrix example directly
./zig-out/bin/matrix

# Or use zig build command
zig build matrix

GUI Controls

• Arrow keys: Move the red square
• Escape: Exit the program
• Window close button: Exit the program

Project Structure

.
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── build.zig        # Build configuration
├── src/
│   ├── basic.zig   # Basic Zig example
│   ├── gui.zig     # SDL2 GUI example
│   ├── vector.zig  # Vector operations example
│   └── matrix.zig  # Matrix operations example
└── .vscode/
    └── settings.json

Build Output

After building, the project generates the following executables:

zig-out/
└── bin/
    ├── basic       # Basic command-line example executable 
    ├── gui         # GUI application executable
    ├── vector      # Vector operations executable
    └── matrix      # Matrix operations executable

Features Demonstrated

Basic Example (basic.zig)

• Function definitions
• Custom types (structs)
• String formatting and printing
• Error handling with try
• Basic arithmetic

GUI Example (gui.zig)

• SDL2 integration
• Window management
• Input handling
• Basic graphics rendering
• Resource management with defer
• Game loop pattern

Vector Example (vector.zig)

• SIMD vector operations
• Interactive visualization
• Real-time computation
• Vector arithmetic
• Web component integration
• User input handling
• Dynamic result visualization

Matrix Example (matrix.zig)

• Generic programming using comptime
• Error checking at compile time
• Struct methods
• Array operations
• Formatted printing

Learning Resources

• Zig Documentation
• SDL2 Documentation
• Zig Learning Resources
• Zig Vector Operations

Contributing

Feel free to:

• Report issues
• Suggest improvements
• Submit pull requests

All contributions are welcome!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.