The unapologetic embrace of compile-time metaprogramming in a clean model drives most of my interest in Zig. I use metaprogramming heavily in C++ to dramatically reduce code size and increase type safety. Contrary to popular assumption, in C++20 metaprogramming is relatively concise, tidy, and maintainable, unlike the eldritch horror that was metaprogramming in C++11. But I don't think anyone would describe it as elegant or designed. I haven't had time yet to try porting C++ metaprogramming to Zig in order to see what is possible. Most other systems-y languages have a much weaker metaprogramming story than C++.

Many developers underestimate the importance of metaprogramming in systems languages for ensuring quality and security. Defects scale proportional to the lines of code. Strong metaprogramming facilities can reduce the lines of code required several-fold.