Install c3c with Homebrew, Nix, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• c3c

Project history

The official C3 materials describe the language as building on C syntax and semantics while retaining familiarity for C programmers. The compiler project is organized around that goal: it ships prebuilt compiler binaries, a standard library, build commands, project templates, and a declarative project.json format.

The C3 project explicitly cites the C2 language as an inspiration for iterating on C without becoming a wholly new language. Its design principles emphasize procedural programming, staying close to C, C ABI compatibility, a modest language surface, and adding higher-level conveniences only where the value is high.

By the 0.8.x series, the official roadmap described C3 as feature-stable enough to run in production with the usual caveats for pre-1.0 software. The roadmap targets 0.9 in 2027 and 1.0 in 2028, with 1.0 meaning a language freeze while the standard library can continue to evolve.

Adoption history

C3C adoption is still early compared with established systems languages, but the project has moved beyond an experimental compiler-only artifact. Official releases provide binaries for Windows, Linux, macOS, and OpenBSD, and the README documents verified compiler builds across Windows, macOS, Linux, OpenBSD, and NetBSD.

The project uses a showcase repository and community channels to collect user projects and feedback. Its own demonstration of compiling a modified vkQuake with a portion converted to C3 is a practical adoption signal for the language's C interop story.

How it is used

Package-manager users install c3c to get the C3 compiler executable. Typical usage begins with c3c init to create a project, project.json to describe targets and build settings, and c3c build or c3c run to compile and execute a project.

The language is aimed at systems and C-adjacent application work. Official materials highlight C ABI compatibility, modules, semantic macros, compile-time reflection, generic modules, slices, contracts, defer, value methods, and built-in build tooling.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, c3c is interesting because it packages an emerging C-family language as a single CLI compiler with its own project format instead of delegating all build metadata to CMake, Meson, or make. It sits in the same modern systems-language conversation as Zig, Odin, Jai, Rust, and D, but keeps a deliberate C-like surface.

Its Homebrew, Nix, and pacman packaging means the compiler has crossed the threshold from source-only curiosity to something users expect to install through normal developer package channels.

Timeline

• 2025: The 0.7 release series was published through GitHub releases.
• 2026-05-12: Version 0.8.0 was released.
• 2026-06-10: Version 0.8.1 was released and documented as the current stable compiler in the README.
• 2027-06-01: The official roadmap targets C3 0.9.
• 2028-06-01: The official roadmap targets C3 1.0.

Related projects

• C2 is named by the C3 README as a direct inspiration.
• vkQuake is used by the C3 project as a C interop demonstration.
• The official comparison page discusses C, C++, Rust, Zig, Jai, Odin, and D as nearby systems-language reference points.

Sources

• https://c3-lang.org/
• https://c3-lang.org/faq/compare-languages/
• https://c3-lang.org/getting-started/projects/
• https://c3-lang.org/getting-started/roadmap/
• https://github.com/c3lang/c3c
• https://github.com/c3lang/c3c/releases