Zig is hard but worth it

Alternative languages are cool, but I struggle to see the point of a systems programming language that doesn't offer static memory safety in 2023. Rust isn't necessarily the best and final answer--it seems like there is a broad design space to explore for memory-safe systems programming languages. But Zig seems to occupy the same local maximum as C--a relatively simple, non-safe systems language--and doesn't have a killer feature that justifies not just using C.

If we’re comparing C to Zig I’m not sure what memory safety even needs to be mentioned for.

For C to Zig there’s plenty of reasons one might prefer Zig. For memory safety obviously you might opt to choose neither.