Zen-C is a multi-target systems language and source-to-source compiler that translates high-level logic into human-readable GNU C or C11 code. It functions as a JIT-enabled programming language with an in-process compiler for real-time interactive code evaluation and testing.
The project serves as a CUDA GPU kernel generator, mapping specialized syntax to CUDA C++ using device attributes to target graphics hardware. It acts as an interoperability layer capable of emitting compatible code for C++, Objective-C, and Lisp to bridge native system frameworks and libraries.
The language includes an arbitrary-precision math library for calculations with variable-length integers and floats. Its capability surface covers systems programming workflows, including concurrent execution, network communication via TCP, UDP, HTTP, and DNS, and file system operations.
Development is supported through a Language Server Protocol implementation that provides auto-completion and real-time diagnostics for external editors.