Why does importing a zigar while a node-zigar.config.json is present cause recompilation?

[MichaelBelousov]

at least in my few zigar usages so far, I have a "production" (often bundled) version of my library/app which changes from importing .zig in development environments to .zigar. So it's annoying to me that node-zigar.config.json will still cause a recompilation in that production version locally.

Importing .zigar is pretty unambiguously (imo) a request to fail if we don't have the production precompiled zigar output to load.

But it does require conditional compilation in my import code which I suppose is atypical/annoying and why you're allowing compilation of the .zig file even when using the .zigar extension.

Is there another way to handle this that has been considered?

[chung-leong]

I guess I can add an option in node-zigar.config.json that suppresses the behavior. Usually, after making changes to your source code, you'd want to test it on your own computer first before cross-compiling for all supported platforms. That's why it always recompiles when node-zigar.config.json is present.

[MichaelBelousov]

but like, if you need to eventually change the .zig import into a .zigar one, and you can use the latter for both development and production, then why even have a .zig import support at all?

[MichaelBelousov]

In my use cases I always bundle so in that case it seems natural that the rollup plugin might replace the zig import with a zigar import

[chung-leong]

It makes for a better out-of-the-box experience. End users just need to create a .zig file and see it work immediately. Some of them are probably just experimenting with Zig so wouldn't get to the point where the change-over is necessary.

[MichaelBelousov]

my point is basically, if .zigar can be used for dev and prod, why not just .zig be used for both?

[MichaelBelousov]

Like what if the import was always named .zig, but if there's no zig file and instead a there's a .zigar file in the same location, that'll always be loaded. So in prod environments you just keep the .zigar, and in dev, you don't have the .zigar so it's never loaded

Does that make sense?