Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C • Hacker News Board

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#151

Post by baranul » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 1:35 AM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #9

Syntax aside, how does this compare to Nim? Nim does similar, I think Crystal does as well? Not entirely sure about Crystal tbh. I guess Nim and Vala, since I believe both transpile to C, so you really get "like C" output from both.

Nim (Python-like) and Crystal (Ruby-like) are not C-like languages. Arguably, those languages are targeting a different audience. There are other C family and C style syntax languages that compile directly to C or has it as one of its backends.

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#152

Post by ekipan » Wed, Jan 14, 2026, 4:09 AM UTC

Deanoumean wrote: post #104

ekipan wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mutability is distinct from variability. In Javascript only because it's a pretty widely known syntax: const f = (x) => { const y = x + 1; return y + 1; } y is an immutable variable. In f(3), y is 4, and in f(7), y is 8. I've only glanced at this Zen-C thing but I presume it's the same story.

"immutable variable" is an oxymoron. Just because Javascript did it does not mean every new language has to do it the same way.

Haskell, then.

    f x = let y = x + 1 in y + 1

Same deal. In (f 3), y = 4, in (f 7), y = 8. y varies but cannot mutate. Should be a true enough Scottsman.

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#153

Post by baranul » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:28 PM UTC

alexpadula wrote: post #29

worldsavior wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could be bots.

It’s not, it’s just how hackernews works. You’ll see new projects hit 1k-10k stars in a matter of a day. You can have the best project, best article to you but if everyone else doesn’t think so it’ll always be at the bottom. Some luck involved too. Bots upvoting a post not organically I doubt is gonna live long on first page.

But, star buying for GitHub is a thing too. This is why you have to look at things like number of contributors, forks, watchers, and pull requests. Just a lot of stars, without the other positive indicators, can be an indication that the project is not so engaging as it might seem or its supposed popularity is fake.

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#154

Post by jdc0589 » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 9:23 PM UTC

deaddodo wrote: post #96

jdc0589 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

man I haven't heard anything about Vala in ages . is it still actively developed/used? how is it?

Vala is still being developed and used in the GNOME ecosystem. Boo, on the other hand, is pretty dead.

I thought Boo was a .net/mono clr thing? whats the relationship

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#155

Post by deaddodo » Thu, Jan 22, 2026, 4:57 AM UTC

jdc0589 wrote: post #154

deaddodo wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vala is still being developed and used in the GNOME ecosystem. Boo, on the other hand, is pretty dead.

I thought Boo was a .net/mono clr thing? whats the relationship

Vala was inspired by Boo. And they were both “GNOME future languages” around the same timeframe.

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#156

Post by kv85s » Thu, Jan 22, 2026, 12:58 PM UTC

Joker_vD wrote: post #79

ricardobeat wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you manage to compile this example?

Yes, actually: $ cat kekw.zc include fn main() { var f = fopen("file.txt", "r"); defer fclose(f); var ch: byte; if fread(&ch, 1, 1, f)

[dead]

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#157

Post by bloodyforestcat » Fri, Jan 23, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC

The whole thing is vibe coded lmao

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#158

Post by Sieyk » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 7:02 AM UTC

ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #136

Archit3ch wrote: post #97

Answering the title, why not Julia?

Same. I've been using Julia for almost everything for a long time now, and it's an amazing language. Very understated.

What has kept me from Julia is the abysmal start-up time (~3 sec from memory)

Re: Zen-C: Write like a high-level language, run like C

#159

Post by eigenspace » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

Sieyk wrote: post #158

ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I've been using Julia for almost everything for a long time now, and it's an amazing language. Very understated.

What has kept me from Julia is the abysmal start-up time (~3 sec from memory)

Unless you were using hardware from the 00's, or had a lot of packages in your startup.jl or something, I suspect your memory may be exaggerating quite a bit.

That said, julia startup times definitely were a painpoint, but have improved quite a bit over the last few years.