6.12. Installing GCC

6.12.1. Installation of GCC

Install GCC by running the following commands:


mkdir /usr/src/gcc-build &&
cd /usr/src/gcc-build &&
../gcc-2.95.2.1/configure --prefix=/usr \
   --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/g++ \
   --enable-shared --enable-languages=c,c++ &&
make bootstrap &&
make install

6.12.2. Contents

The GCC package contains compilers, preprocessors and the GNU C++ Library.

6.12.3. Description

6.12.3.1. Compiler

A compiler translates source code in text format to a format that a computer understands. After a source code file is compiled into an object file, a linker will create an executable file from one or more of these compiler generated object files.

6.12.3.2. Preprocessor

A preprocessor pre-processes a source file, such as including the contents of header files into the source file. It's a good idea to not do this manually to save a lot of time. Someone just inserts a line like #include <filename>. The preprocessor inserts the contents of that file into the source file. That's one of the things a preprocessor does.

6.12.3.3. C++ Library

The C++ library is used by C++ programs. The C++ library contains functions that are frequently used in C++ programs. This way the programmer doesn't have to write certain functions (such as writing a string of text to the screen) from scratch every time he creates a program.