Installation

Blitz is a pure Zig library with no external dependencies.

Requirements

• Zig 0.15.0 or later
• POSIX-compatible OS (Linux, macOS) or Windows

Adding Blitz to Your Project

Option 1: Zig Package Manager (Recommended)

Step 1: Add blitz to your build.zig.zon:

.{
    .name = .my_project,
    .version = "0.1.0",
    .minimum_zig_version = "0.15.0",

    .dependencies = .{
        .blitz = .{
            // Check https://github.com/NerdMeNot/blitz/releases for the latest tag
            .url = "https://github.com/NerdMeNot/blitz/archive/refs/tags/<LATEST_TAG>.tar.gz",
            .hash = "...", // Run `zig build` — the compiler will print the correct hash
        },
    },

    .paths = .{
        "build.zig",
        "build.zig.zon",
        "src",
    },
}

Step 2: Add the dependency to your build.zig:

const std = @import("std");

pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
    const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
    const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});

    // Get blitz dependency
    const blitz_dep = b.dependency("blitz", .{
        .target = target,
        .optimize = optimize,
    });

    // Create your executable
    const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
        .name = "my_app",
        .root_source_file = b.path("src/main.zig"),
        .target = target,
        .optimize = optimize,
    });

    // Add blitz module
    exe.root_module.addImport("blitz", blitz_dep.module("blitz"));

    b.installArtifact(exe);

    // Run step
    const run_cmd = b.addRunArtifact(exe);
    const run_step = b.step("run", "Run the application");
    run_step.dependOn(&run_cmd.step);
}

Step 3: Use blitz in your code:

src/main.zig

const std = @import("std");
const blitz = @import("blitz");

pub fn main() !void {
    var data = [_]i64{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
    const sum = blitz.iter(i64, &data).sum();
    std.debug.print("Sum: {}\n", .{sum});
}

Option 2: Git Submodule

git submodule add https://github.com/NerdMeNot/blitz.git deps/blitz

Then in your build.zig:

const blitz_mod = b.addModule("blitz", .{
    .root_source_file = b.path("deps/blitz/api.zig"),
    .target = target,
    .optimize = optimize,
});
blitz_mod.link_libc = true;

exe.root_module.addImport("blitz", blitz_mod);

Option 3: Direct Import (Development)

For quick prototyping, copy the blitz source and import directly:

const blitz = @import("path/to/blitz/api.zig");

Note

Blitz requires libc — make sure to add link_libc = true on the module or pass -lc when building manually.

Verifying Installation

Run the test suite to verify everything works:

cd blitz
zig build test

Expected output:

All tests passed.

Running Benchmarks

cd blitz
zig build bench

# Comparative benchmark (Blitz vs Rayon)
zig build compare

Platform Notes

macOS (Apple Silicon)

• Full support with ARM64 optimizations
• Optimal performance on M1/M2/M3 chips

Linux (x86_64)

• Full support with x86_64 optimizations
• Works on any modern x86_64 processor

Windows

• Supported via Zig’s cross-platform std library
• Uses Windows synchronization primitives internally

Optimization Tips

For best performance, build with release mode:

zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

Or in your build.zig, ensure users can select optimization:

const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});