1 @c Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
2 @c 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c This is part of the GCC manual.
4 @c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
7 @chapter Programming Languages Supported by GCC
10 @cindex GNU Compiler Collection
11 @cindex GNU C Compiler
17 GCC stands for ``GNU Compiler Collection''. GCC is an integrated
18 distribution of compilers for several major programming languages. These
19 languages currently include C, C++, Objective-C, Java, Fortran, and Ada.
21 The abbreviation @dfn{GCC} has multiple meanings in common use. The
22 current official meaning is ``GNU Compiler Collection'', which refers
23 generically to the complete suite of tools. The name historically stood
24 for ``GNU C Compiler'', and this usage is still common when the emphasis
25 is on compiling C programs. Finally, the name is also used when speaking
26 of the @dfn{language-independent} component of GCC: code shared among the
28 The language-independent component of GCC includes the majority of the
29 optimizers, as well as the ``back ends'' that generate machine code for
35 The part of a compiler that is specific to a particular language is
36 called the ``front end''. In addition to the front ends that are
37 integrated components of GCC, there are several other front ends that
38 are maintained separately. These support languages such as Pascal,
39 Mercury, and COBOL. To use these, they must be built together with
46 Most of the compilers for languages other than C have their own names.
47 The C++ compiler is G++, the Ada compiler is GNAT, and so on. When we
48 talk about compiling one of those languages, we might refer to that
49 compiler by its own name, or as GCC@. Either is correct.
51 @cindex compiler compared to C++ preprocessor
52 @cindex intermediate C version, nonexistent
53 @cindex C intermediate output, nonexistent
54 Historically, compilers for many languages, including C++ and Fortran,
55 have been implemented as ``preprocessors'' which emit another high
56 level language such as C@. None of the compilers included in GCC are
57 implemented this way; they all generate machine code directly. This
58 sort of preprocessor should not be confused with the @dfn{C
59 preprocessor}, which is an integral feature of the C, C++, and
60 Objective-C languages.