Zig Binary Layout Basics: Alignment, Padding, Packed Structs, and Validation

A practical two-hour session on Zig Binary Layout Basics, focused on Alignment, Padding, Packed Structs, and Validation. Zig is used realistically for systems tooling, C interop, parsing, build workflows, and performance-minded components rather than pretending it is a full web platform.

Audience: entry-level and intermediate developers who want a practical engineering session, not a language tour.

Outcomes:

• Explain the practical boundaries of Zig Binary Layout Basics
• Apply Alignment in a small working example
• Apply Padding in a small working example
• Apply Packed Structs in a small working example

Format: two hours with a short framing walkthrough, a concrete example, discussion of tradeoffs, and a closing checklist for practice.