What is the difference between g++ and gcc?

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g++ and gcc are both compilers provided by the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), which is a collection of compilers for various programming languages, including C and C++. The primary difference between g++ and gcc lies in the languages they are designed to compile: g++ is focused on compiling C++ code, while gcc is used for compiling C code.

Here's a breakdown of the differences:

  1. g++: This command is used to compile C++ source code. It automatically includes the necessary C++ libraries and performs C++ language-specific optimizations.

  2. gcc: This command is used to compile C source code. It includes the necessary C libraries and performs C language-specific optimizations.

Here's an example to illustrate the difference:

Suppose you have a simple C++ program named "example.cpp" and a simple C program named "example.c":

example.cpp (C++ program):

cpp
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello from C++!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

example.c (C program):

c
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello from C!\n");
    return 0;
}

Now, you can compile these programs using g++ and gcc respectively:

For the C++ program:

sh
g++ example.cpp -o cpp_example

For the C program:

sh
gcc example.c -o c_example

The resulting executable files cpp_example and c_example will be created. The g++ command compiles the C++ program and includes C++ standard libraries, while the gcc command compiles the C program and includes C standard libraries.

In summary, the primary difference between g++ and gcc is that g++ is used for compiling C++ code, while gcc is used for compiling C code. The appropriate compiler should be chosen based on the programming language you are using.

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