1<html lang="en"> 2<head> 3<title>G++ and GCC - Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)</title> 4<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html"> 5<meta name="description" content="Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)"> 6<meta name="generator" content="makeinfo 4.13"> 7<link title="Top" rel="start" href="index.html#Top"> 8<link rel="prev" href="index.html#Top" title="Top"> 9<link rel="next" href="Standards.html#Standards" title="Standards"> 10<link href="http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/" rel="generator-home" title="Texinfo Homepage"> 11<!-- 12Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 131998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 142010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 15 16Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document 17under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or 18any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the 19Invariant Sections being ``Funding Free Software'', the Front-Cover 20Texts being (a) (see below), and with the Back-Cover Texts being (b) 21(see below). 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GCC is an integrated 62distribution of compilers for several major programming languages. These 63languages currently include C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Java, 64Fortran, Ada, and Go. 65 66 <p>The abbreviation <dfn>GCC</dfn> has multiple meanings in common use. The 67current official meaning is “GNU Compiler Collection”, which refers 68generically to the complete suite of tools. The name historically stood 69for “GNU C Compiler”, and this usage is still common when the emphasis 70is on compiling C programs. Finally, the name is also used when speaking 71of the <dfn>language-independent</dfn> component of GCC: code shared among the 72compilers for all supported languages. 73 74 <p>The language-independent component of GCC includes the majority of the 75optimizers, as well as the “back ends” that generate machine code for 76various processors. 77 78 <p><a name="index-COBOL-11"></a><a name="index-Mercury-12"></a><a name="index-Pascal-13"></a>The part of a compiler that is specific to a particular language is 79called the “front end”. In addition to the front ends that are 80integrated components of GCC, there are several other front ends that 81are maintained separately. These support languages such as Pascal, 82Mercury, and COBOL. To use these, they must be built together with 83GCC proper. 84 85 <p><a name="index-C_002b_002b-14"></a><a name="index-G_002b_002b-15"></a><a name="index-Ada-16"></a><a name="index-GNAT-17"></a>Most of the compilers for languages other than C have their own names. 86The C++ compiler is G++, the Ada compiler is GNAT, and so on. When we 87talk about compiling one of those languages, we might refer to that 88compiler by its own name, or as GCC. Either is correct. 89 90 <p><a name="index-compiler-compared-to-C_002b_002b-preprocessor-18"></a><a name="index-intermediate-C-version_002c-nonexistent-19"></a><a name="index-C-intermediate-output_002c-nonexistent-20"></a>Historically, compilers for many languages, including C++ and Fortran, 91have been implemented as “preprocessors” which emit another high 92level language such as C. None of the compilers included in GCC are 93implemented this way; they all generate machine code directly. This 94sort of preprocessor should not be confused with the <dfn>C 95preprocessor</dfn>, which is an integral feature of the C, C++, Objective-C 96and Objective-C++ languages. 97 98<!-- Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 --> 99<!-- Free Software Foundation, Inc. --> 100<!-- This is part of the GCC manual. --> 101<!-- For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi. --> 102 </body></html> 103 104