Solod: a Go subset that compiles to readable C with zero runtime

Solod (“So”), a project from developer Anton Zhiyanov, is a strict subset of Go that transpiles into human-readable C11. The pitch is systems-level control without a new language: you write ordinary Go and get C source out, with no garbage collector, reference counting, or hidden allocations. Values are stack-allocated by default and the heap is opt-in through the standard library. It supports structs, methods, interfaces, slices, maps, multiple return values, and defer, with limited generics. Concurrency isn’t a language primitive but is offered via the stdlib, and C interop runs in both directions without CGO or its overhead.

A key selling point is that existing Go tooling — syntax highlighting, LSP, linting, and go test — works unchanged, lowering the barrier for Go developers who want to target C and for C programmers drawn to Go’s structure and safety. As of July 2026 the project is at version 0.2, which added networking, WebAssembly, and freestanding mode; version 0.3 is slated to add concurrency support.

The author is candid that So isn’t production-ready and frames it as something to try on hobby projects or watch. Its significance is less about immediate adoption than the design bet: that a familiar, well-tooled language can serve as a friendlier front-end for generating portable C, competing conceptually with the “better C” niche occupied by languages like Zig.