PClike

PClike is a loosely defined term in computer science used to describe programming languages or code styles that resemble C‑like languages in syntax and tooling, while diverging in memory management, safety guarantees, or abstraction level. As a label, it has no formal specification and is applied variably by authors, educators, and hobbyist projects to signal a familiar syntax coupled with non-C-like characteristics.

Usage and scope: The term appears in discussions about language design, particularly when contrasting true C-family languages with alternatives that retain curly-brace syntax but change features such as manual memory management, garbage collection, or strong safety guarantees. It is commonly used in teaching materials to refer to restricted subsets of C or to experimental languages aiming for easier transition from C to higher-level constructs.

Typical characteristics: PClike code often uses C‑style blocks, semicolons, and operator syntax, but may implement one or more of the following — automatic memory management or region-based lifetimes, stronger type safety, optional or inferred typing, or a runtime system that abstracts hardware details. Tooling may resemble that of C compilers, but with additional checks, safer defaults, or integrated runtime components.

Examples and status: There are no widely accepted languages formally designated as PClike. Instead, the term serves as a heuristic to categorize projects that look like C on the surface but differ in memory model or safety guarantees. Etymology: the name likely derives from “C‑like,” with the prefix P indicating a variation or pedagogical framing; there is no single origin.

See also: C, C++, C#, Rust, Go, Java.