## TL;DR

Zig (Andrew Kelley, 2016) is a systems programming language competing with C — manual memory management without hidden allocations, compile-time execution, and seamless C interoperability (can import C headers directly). No garbage collector, no hidden control flow. Bun JS runtime is written in Zig.

## Core Explanation

No hidden allocations: `ArrayList(T).init(allocator)` requires explicit allocator. `comptime`: execute code at compile time — generic types, optimization. `defer` for cleanup (like Go). C interop: `@cImport(@cInclude('stdio.h'))` — direct access to C libraries. No macros or preprocessor: all metaprogramming via comptime. Error handling: `try` and `catch` without exceptions.

## Further Reading

- [Zig Documentation](https://ziglang.org/documentation/)