State of the (Tagged) Union Address by Andrew Kelley

TL;DR: Andrew Kelley outlines Zig's core philosophy of "doing more with less," details the Zigg Software Foundation's structure and "no emergencies" culture, and spotlights contributions from key team members. ## The Zig Philosophy: Doing More with Less The central principle of the Zig project is **doing more with less**. This is contrasted with other valid approaches in the design space: "doing less with less" (prioritizing simplicity over results, like Go) and "doing more with more" (accepting complexity for results). The antithesis, and the approach Zig actively avoids, is **doing less with more**, where added complexity yields no benefit. Kelley critiques examples of "doing less with more," such as Object-Relational Mappers (ORMs) in database applications, which add a complex layer for a loss of benefit, and proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, which burn increasing electricity for the same transaction throughput. This philosophy manifests in the Zig language itself, which is "small but powerful." Its flagship `comptime` feature provides significant capability from a simple construct. At runtime, Zig aims for "lean programs, low resource usage but high performance"—doing more computing with less computer. ## Organization and "No Emergencies" Culture The Zig Software Foundation (ZSF) embodies the same principle in its operations. It spends relatively little on CI infrastructure compared to peers like the Rust Foundation or Python Software Foundation, yet maintains extensive test coverage. A key factor is Zig's **decentralized package management**, which eliminates the need for expensive, centrally-hosted infrastructure and on-call engineers to maintain it. The ZSF fosters a **"no emergencies" culture**. Everything has a plan, and no one is on call or expected to work outside scheduled hours. This allows for a small team to pursue a big dream. The organization's structure enables this: a small team of developers is funded by a large user base (92% of donation revenue pays the team). This small team model ensures a coherent vision but creates a bottleneck for contributions. Crucially, ZSF contracts grant team members the freedom to work on anything that helps Zig directly or indirectly. This allows them to bring their own personality to the project, making the Zigg project "bigger than me" (Andrew Kelley). There is no top-down task assignment; influence, inspiration, and collaboration occur within a flat hierarchy. ## Spotlight on Core Team Members A significant portion of the presentation acknowledges the paid contractors who contribute their skills and personalities to the project. ### Loris Crow As the first ZSF contractor, Loris took a chance on Andrew during the foundation's startup phase. His contributions extend beyond code: * Created **Zig Showtime** during the pandemic. * Engages in regular community streaming. * Led the **website design initiative**. * Facilitates team meetings by **breaking the ice**, helping introverted members bond and collaborate effectively. * Navigates complex socio-political environments (with a noted analogy to the game *Secret Hitler*). * Manages donations. * Sets an ecosystem role model with projects like the **Zen static site generator** and an upcoming video conferencing alternative called **WebO**. * Organizes community events, including **Zig Day** (referenced in the talk) and helping coordinate European events like **Zigtoberfest** and **Software You Can Love**. ### Isaac Frey An original FOSS community member and a steady presence on IRC. * Created the **River Wayland compositor**, the oldest serious Zig project, which quietly serves as a window manager for many. * Is developing the **Zig language specification**, having already finished formally specifying and fuzz-testing the grammar against an oracle. * Chose the **GPL license** for River, exemplifying his roots in the FOSS community. ### Vea (Vega Tulmin) Described as quiet, calm, and someone who lets actions speak. * Started by contributing to **translate-c**, which allows importing C code into Zig. * Developed his own **C compiler (Aocc)**, which became the new implementation for C translation in Zig, solving edge-case issues that would have required rewriting parts of Clang. * Represents the flexibility of ZSF contracts; as a student and later during mandatory military service, he could take extended breaks and return when able. ### Jacob Young A "camera shy" individual who loves mysteries. His work is foundational to the modern Zig compiler: * Got the **C backend** working, enabling Zig to output C code. * Achieved **WebAssembly bootstrap**, which allowed the removal of the old C++ compiler implementation from the repository. * Wrote the now-default **x86 backend**, known for its fast compilation. * Is developing an **ARM64 backend** with innovative ideas about pipeline optimization. * Created a fork of **LLDB** that natively supports the Zig language, its standard library, and avoids common crashes, greatly improving the debugging experience. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwi5b5xSsKA