Jan Beelte (Dec 14 2025 at 21:04): Jan Beelte (Dec 14 2025 at 21:04):Hello all,
what is the best way to get started with the new zig rewrite of the compiler?
If I download:
https://roc-lang.org/install/macos_apple_silicon
will this already be the zig version?
What is the best starting point to build the zig version from source?
Is there any public information about a status / roadmap of the rewrite?
Looking forward to following the project more closely :)
Best,
Jan
Anton (Dec 15 2025 at 09:56):Hi @Jan Beelte,
That is still the rust version, you can find the zig compiler releases here: https://github.com/roc-lang/nightlies/releases
What is the best starting point to build the zig version from source?
Install zig 0.15.2 and run zig build roc, the binary will be at ./zig-out/bin/roc.
Is there any public information about a status / roadmap of the rewrite?
No public roadmap, right now we're fixing a ton of bugs. After advent of code is done I think we have a few more complex changes like better exhaustiveness checking for pattern matching. Then it's updating basic-cli, basic-webserver, mainstream packages, examples repo, exercism exercises. Others here are welcome to mention things I forgot.
Lukas Juhrich (Dec 16 2025 at 13:51):I hope it's okay to piggyback on this, otherwise feel free to move this to a new thread.
Is there something like a hello-world .roc file which compiles using the new zig-based compiler?
I cannot make anything work in terms of the platform (either error.NotAppFile or, understandably, PlatformNotSupported when using upstream basic-cli).
I looked at the snapshot tests, but the .roc files there import a ../basic-cli/platform.roc which I just don't see anywhere (no folder, no git submodule, etc. named like that).
It might be that I'm just being dense here –I basically only have a day of online REPL experience and watched the Houston FPUG presentation. I enjoyed both of these a ton.
Fabian Schmalzried (Dec 16 2025 at 13:56):Richard made a nice gist for AoC and how to get started. It also contains a hello world.
https://gist.github.com/rtfeldman/f46bcbfe5132d62c4095dfa687bb9aa4
The platform might be outdated, the latest one is https://github.com/lukewilliamboswell/roc-platform-template-zig/releases/download/0.6/2BfGn4M9uWJNhDVeMghGeXNVDFijMfPsmmVeo6M4QjKX.tar.zst
Feel free to ask questions and report bugs!
Lukas Juhrich (Dec 16 2025 at 13:58):Fabian Schmalzried said:
Richard made a nice gist for AoC and how to get started. It also contains a hello world. […]
Very helpful, much appreciated!
Anton (Dec 16 2025 at 14:34):Welcome @Lukas Juhrich,
This may also be a useful example for you: https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/blob/main/test/fx/all_syntax_test.roc
Also check the examples folder here: https://github.com/lukewilliamboswell/roc-platform-template-zig/tree/main/examples
Once the zig compiler is ready to replace the old compiler we will set it up with a nice onboarding experience.
Jan Beelte (Dec 18 2025 at 11:06):Thanks for all the great pointers!
I was able to build the compiler and make it work with Richards gist :tada:
Last updated: Dec 21 2025 at 12:15 UTC