To Zig from C/C++: a hands-on introduction into the language core (v1.1.0a)

[kindred spruce]

I hope this is the right forum section to announce the book. Available here: https://github.com/vadim-za/cpp2zig-book
(notice that you need to press the download button to get the full text)

The book presents a hands-on in-depth introductory course in the core features of Zig programming language for readers with a C/C++ background.

Would love to hear your feedback.

[restive kindle]

Wait did you create a github repo and just placed a pdf inside?
Why not store the .tex sources in the repo and have the pdf be generated in a github action workflow?

[slate thistle]

Agreed

[kindred spruce]

There are a number of technical issues with that which I'd need to solve first, it's not just a single tex file being compiled, but needs a few separate compilation passes of different files. I'm having zero experience/knowledge with GitHub CI and that'd require noticeable time investment on my end. Also at this stage I don't intend to open-source the tex files. I hope it's not a big problem to download the pdf from the repo.

[vital vapor]

it’s probably not an issue, but at that point why not host the PDF on a website? just raises some minor red flags for me, which is i imagine the source of the other questions too

[kindred spruce]

I've been looking for some simple and free ways of hosting a PDF and there seem to be none and the only reasonable and cheapest alternative really seems to be to host an own website. "There is no Instagram for PDFs". I'm not sure I'm ready for the associated overhead.

Or, maybe by the "red flags" you mean that it's possible that I'm not the author of the book and uploaded someone else's work... Well, would it suffice if I link the book from my (verified) LinkedIn account? 😄

[restive kindle]

FYI Example LaTeX CI:

name: LateX
on:
  push:
    branches: [ master ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ master ]
  workflow_dispatch: {}
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: Compile LaTeX document
      uses: xu-cheng/latex-action@v3
      with:
        root_file: Main.tex
        texlive_version: 2021
    - name: Upload result
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: Foo
        path: "*.pdf"
        retention-days: 6

It will run latexmk which runs as many passes as required (e.g. for indexes)

[restive kindle]

The way I understand "minor red flags" in this context is more about lack of dev good practices

[kindred spruce]

Thanks for the script. But, as I mentioned before, I actually need to compile several tex files and then reference the created pdfs from the main tex file. I could change the sources to avoid that, but that will reduce the convenience of working locally on the project.

[vital vapor]

i meant more along the lines of how do you establish credibility for your work

[kindred spruce]

True. I admit, I'm a CI illiterate. Does it mean I'm a bad developer? You judge 😉

[vital vapor]

given that you’re eschewing traditional publication or alternatives like the arXiv, you might need to lean on other ways of building credibility

[kindred spruce]

I hope the quality of my work (if it actually has any) would be sufficient to establish credibility. Otherwise (if the work turns out to be not good enough), why bothering at all? 😉

I'm not here on some ego trip (maybe just a tiny bit) with this book, I just had an impulse to write it and share it with the community. If it turns out to be useful, I hope the way it's hosted won't be a true obstacle, if it isn't, then it doesn't matter 😉

Also the book's license allows further redistribution. If someone believes the book is valuable and would be willing to host a copy of it on their website, I'd appreciate that.

[restive kindle]

Yeah I like the level of detail in the book, the content is good 👍

[kindred spruce]

Thank you!

[kindred spruce]

As the arXiv goes, unfortunately I don't have anyone who could endorse the upload (or maybe I do, but not aware of it 😉 )

[vital vapor]

heh, sadly i don’t think i can endorse outside of math. anyway not trying to shade you, just wanted to provide some context you might keep in mind as you move forward with the project 🙂

[kind axle]

😉ing so much comes off as sarcastic ime btw

[kindred spruce]

I'll take notice, thanks. If any sarcasm was implied, then rather towards myself (btw had to stop myself from putting a wink right here 😄 )

[kindred spruce]

To Zig from C/C++: a hands-on introduction into the language core (v1.1.0a)