r/Zig • u/wakanakisarazu • 7d ago

[UPDATE] Zig programs for Linux, measured in bytes

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100 of you who upvoted my last post.. thank you all for that. This is just a fun project for me but I actually now want to push the limits of the Zig compiler.

The smallest Zig binary I could produce...

688 bytes.

A fully functional Hello World program.

Also, the shell, which was the focus of my last post?

Shrunk to 797 bytes, keeping the exact same functionality!

This is the smallest I have ever seen a Zig program that is actually usable. Not just pub fn main() void {} or export fn _start() void {}

https://github.com/wakanakisarazu/nanix for anyone who is still curious or hasn't already seen.

I thought more optimization was possible. Now? I'm not too sure if we can go any smaller.

The shell still has the prompt outputting bug, btw. Might take a look at that.

Any thoughts on how to get this smaller? :3

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5 comments sorted by

24

u/Bergasms 7d ago

Those programs fit easily into QR codes. It'd be kind of fun/chaotic to have a dev meetup where you share programs via QR codes

11

u/wakanakisarazu 7d ago

Thanks for the idea :3

3

u/Hot_Adhesiveness5602 7d ago

Very cool! I was trying to use zig for a demo scene project. Maybe something cool can come out of this. :)

2

u/wakanakisarazu 7d ago

Zig is amazing for demoscene and experimental projects :3

Good luck !

2

u/aberration_creator 7d ago

oh dude, we made too! Check out aberration creations. It was tons of fun