Manual Memory Management in Zig: Allocators Demystified

Zig gives you full control over memory — no garbage collector, no hidden allocations. Instead, it provides a flexible and explicit system of allocators, letting you manage memory manually while keeping code safe and clear. In this tutorial, you'll learn the core ideas behind Zig's allocator system, how to use built-in allocators, and how to write functions that gracefully handle memory ownership. Step 1: Why Zig Uses Allocators Unlike languages that implicitly manage memory (like Go or Rust), Zig puts you in charge. Instead of relying on malloc or global state, allocators in Zig are passed explicitly, making dependencies clear and deterministic. This helps with:

May 9, 2025 - 02:44

Manual Memory Management in Zig: Allocators Demystified

Zig gives you full control over memory — no garbage collector, no hidden allocations. Instead, it provides a flexible and explicit system of allocators, letting you manage memory manually while keeping code safe and clear.

In this tutorial, you'll learn the core ideas behind Zig's allocator system, how to use built-in allocators, and how to write functions that gracefully handle memory ownership.

Step 1: Why Zig Uses Allocators

Unlike languages that implicitly manage memory (like Go or Rust), Zig puts you in charge. Instead of relying on malloc or global state, allocators in Zig are passed explicitly, making dependencies clear and deterministic.

This helps with: