Roc’s compiler is being rewritten in Zig primarily due to significantly faster compile times, which have been a major pain point in Rust.
Zig’s allocator-based memory management, better tooling for static binaries, and built-in support for optimization techniques (like struct-of-arrays and bit-packing) align better with Roc’s needs.
One of Go’s greatest strengths, as well.
Interpreted languages don’t count IMO because of the massive runtime dependency hell they bring.
As TFA says, Zig compile times are pretty fast, too, and I keep meaning to write something in it.