---
title: "PlusCal"
chunk: 1/1
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlusCal"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T11:37:12.703253+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

PlusCal (formerly called +CAL) is a formal specification language created by Leslie Lamport, which transpiles to TLA+. In contrast to TLA+'s action-oriented focus on distributed systems, PlusCal most resembles an imperative programming language and is better-suited when specifying sequential algorithms. PlusCal was designed to replace pseudocode, retaining its simplicity while providing a formally defined and verifiable language. A one-bit clock is written in PlusCal as follows:


== See also ==
FizzBee
TLA+
Pseudocode


== References ==


== External links ==
PlusCal tools and documentation are found on the PlusCal Algorithm Language page.