Targeti386pc

Targeti386pc is a shorthand label used in some software projects to denote the 32-bit x86 architecture on IBM PC-compatible hardware. It is not a formal ISA name, but rather a target identifier employed by build systems, compilers, and emulation configurations to select code generation, data layout, and application binary interface assumptions appropriate for IA-32 on PC-class machines.

In practice, target naming for cross-compilation often uses triples that include architecture, vendor, and operating system (for example, i386-pc-linux-gnu). The component “i386” refers to the 32-bit x86 instruction set, while “pc” historically signals a personal computer vendor/id grouping used in older GNU toolchains. Because the label targeti386pc is not universally standardized, its exact meaning can vary between projects; some use it as a concise alias for a broader i386-pc target, while others treat it as a project-specific internal identifier.

Common contexts where similar target labels appear include compiler backends (GCC, LLVM/Clang) and cross-compilation or build configuration scripts, where choosing a target affects code generation, ABI, and library conventions. In virtualization and emulation, PC-class hardware is associated with 32-bit x86 support, though emulators typically reference machine types (for example, for QEMU) rather than a target triplet.

See also: x86, IA-32, cross-compilation, GNU triplets, compiler targets, QEMU PC machines.