How To Compile And Run C/C++ Programs In Linux

https://www.ostechnix.com/compile-run-c-c-programs-linux

This brief tutorial will explain how to compile and run C/C++ programs in GNU/Linux. If you’re a student or a new Linux user coming from Microsoft platform, then you might be wondering how to run the C or C++ programs in a Linux distribution. Because, compiling and running code in Linux platforms is little bit different than Windows. Let us get started, shall we?

Setup Development Environment

As you may already know, to run the code we need to install the necessary tools and compilers, right? Yes! Refer the following guide to install all development tools in your Linux box.

• How To Install Development Tools In Linux

The development tools includes all necessary applications, such as GNU GCC C/C++ compilers, make, debuggers, man pages and others which are needed to compile and build new software, packages etc.
Also, there is a script named manji that helps you to setup a complete environment in Ubuntu-based systems.

• Manji – A Simple Script To Setup Development Environment In Ubuntu

After installing the necessary development tools, verify them using any one of the following commands:

whereis gcc

which gcc

gcc -v

These commands will display the installation path and version of gcc compiler.

Compile And Run C/C++ Programs In Linux

Write your code/program in your favorite CLI/GUI editor. Use extension .c for C programs or .cpp for C++ programs.
Here is a simple “C” program.

nano ostechnix.c

#include 
int main()
{
   printf("Welcome To OSTechNix!");
   return 0;
}

To compile the program, run:

gcc ostechnix.c -o ostechnix1

Or,

g++ ostechnix.c -o ostechnix1

In the above example, we used C++ compiler to compile the program. To use C compiler instead, use:

cc ostechnix.c -o ostechnix1

If there is any syntax or semantic errors in your code/program, it will display them. You might need to fix them first to proceed further. If there is no error then the compiler will successfully generate an executable file named ostechnix1 in the current working directory.

Finally, execute the program using command:

./ostechnix1

To compile multiple source files (Eg. source1 and source2) into executable, run:

gcc source1.c source2.c -o executable

To allow warnings, debug symbols in the output:

gcc source.c -Wall -Og -o executable

To compile the source code into Assembler instructions:

gcc -S source.c

To compile the source code without linking:

gcc -c source.c

The above command will create a executable called source.o.
If your program contains math functions:

gcc source.c -o executable -lm

For more details, refer the man pages.

man gcc

And, that’s all for now. If you find out guides useful, recommend them to your colleagues and friends and support OSTechNix.
Cheers!