[OskarS]

Of course the syntax sugar is a good thing if it makes it easier to write the code, but if the question is about "expressive power of the type system", it's not really relevant: Zig's type system can properly express a sum type. In addition: pattern matching is orthogonal to ADT, you can have pattern matching in both languages with and without algebraic types. Neither one implies the other.

[anon-3988]

> Zig's type system can properly express a sum type.

Surely any Turing complete PL can express a sum type? I can't imagine a language that can support products but not sums.

[Tainnor]

Turing completeness has nothing to do with static type checking. Dynamically typed PLs can't express any type (except Any) yet are still Turing complete.