zig-programming

Run the included get_references.py script, which checks the `zig version` command, the minimum_zig_version field in build.zig.zon, and syntax markers in build.zig and source files. It returns the matching reference directory with a confidence level and automatic fallback to the closest supported version.

Zig uses explicit error unions with `try`, `catch`, and `errdefer` rather than exceptions. The skill's functions-errors reference and error-handling recipes show tested patterns for propagating errors, cleaning up on failure paths, and defining custom error sets.

Yes, it ships version-specific references for 0.2.0 through master, including 0.11.0, 0.12.1, 0.13.0, 0.14.1, and 0.15.2, with 0.16.0 as the default. A shared version-differences guide covers migration paths and breaking changes between releases.

Zig 0.16 requires passing std.Io explicitly to I/O operations and uses std.process.Init for application-owned I/O, arguments, and environment data, replacing direct std.fs usage. The skill's io.md reference documents the new model and all recipes are written against it.

Use @cImport with @cInclude to translate C headers at compile time, then link with -lc. The C interop recipes cover calling C functions, exporting Zig functions with the C ABI, passing arrays via many-item pointers, and wrapping existing C libraries.

Eleven of 223 recipes are documented as not compiling, mostly because they rely on std.posix APIs removed in 0.16 (raw sockets, sendfile, fcntl) or reference module content never included. Each affected recipe header states the reason, and verify_recipes.py reproduces the failures.