On paper it sounded like just the challenge I needed. To follow handmade hero on Linux with Zig. It made no sense for me to follow handmade hero as it was because I know myself too well. If there is a shortcut I'll take it. Using Zig and Linux meant that I needed to understand what was really going on to be able to translate the Win32 API to X11. Not to mention that the X11 program was written in the 1980s. Credit where it is due, it still fucking works. Sure it's not the most intuitive thing even when compared to the Win32 API, but it fucking works.
Now imagine all of that with my skill issues with Zig and lowish level programming. It leads to blind rage. I'm not sure how I kept it together as the temptation to break my mouse was ever present. I'm happy I called it a day before that happened. Now it's been about a couple or more hours, the rage has subsided and I've managed to understand what I was doing wrong. Well sort of. At least enough to show up tomorrow morning and be able to move forward and show some colors on the screen.
Only yesterday did I realize there is a newer window system called Wayland. I decided against switching to it. As at this point X11 is my third attempt at a window. My understanding of it is quite limited and I'm finding it quite difficult to do even the simplest things as it's been a while and the concepts are all in place in my head. Unless I have a good mental model of what's going on or what is expected of me, frustrations seem to build up quite rapidly. It's quite normal and something I've come across quite a few times. Yet it's quite surprising when it comes around.