Let's talk Ziron 3 and charting a course forward

Around two years ago, I embarked on an inspiring odyssey to rebuild the very core of Ziron from the ground up. Armed with a treasure trove of knowledge accumulated over the years, I dove headfirst into this transformative endeavour. However, a brief lapse in focus and a regrettable oversight in backup procedures resulted in an unexpected setback – a poignant reminder of the vital importance of maintaining regular backups. (Mental note: elevate backup frequency!)

In the wake of this challenging chapter, my enthusiasm for Ziron's renaissance experienced a temporary ebb. As an alternate course, I turned my attention toward enhancing Ziron 2, yet the relentless cadence of life imposed constraints on these aspirations.

Fast-forwarding to recent times, a series of dedicated weekends saw the meticulous revival of Ziron from its foundations. Today, with a sense of accomplishment, I am delighted to unveil the dawn of Ziron 3.

This milestone marks a pivotal shift in the language's evolution. Ziron 3 introduces a dynamic departure from the linear assembler framework, presenting a distinct bifurcation into the assembler itself and a novel linker christened Zynk. The compiler’s introduces a bespoke ZOB file format, seamlessly woven together by the Zynk linker with other ZOB files. While the grand vision includes eventual support for diverse linkable formats, notably the popular ELF format, it is prudent to approach this evolution through incremental strides.

The immediate horizon is adorned with two prominent landmarks: the native 64-bit support and the creation of a versatile RTL with a cross-platform focus. Admittedly, Ziron 3's current feature set may not match that of its predecessor, Ziron 2, yet the proverbial glass ceiling has been shattered with the resolution of critical linkage bugs. This triumph augurs a swifter integration of forthcoming enhancements.

Turning our gaze towards the future, Ziron's roadmap reveals a tapestry woven with augmented semantics, enriched functionality, and expedited build performance. A tantalizing prospect on this visionary canvas is the conceptualization of the "Ziron layering system." Envision an amalgamation of distinct code syntaxes – the simplicity of MASM, the elegance of Pascal, and even the dynamism of scripting languages such as Lua and JavaScript – all harmoniously interwoven atop the Ziron foundation. While this lofty endeavour stands as a long-term aspiration, its preliminary embodiment shall manifest in the form of an internally nurtured high-level pre-processed language, poised to enrich the assembler's repertoire.



Lastly, it is obvious that the CodeZiron website is severely outdated and so will be receiving a major overhaul in the coming future.

/signing off