1 @c Copyright (C) 1988-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
2 @c This is part of the GCC manual.
3 @c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
6 @chapter Programming Languages Supported by GCC
9 @cindex GNU Compiler Collection
10 @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, Objective-C++,
20 Fortran, Ada, D, Go, and BRIG (HSAIL).
22 The abbreviation @dfn{GCC} has multiple meanings in common use. The
23 current official meaning is ``GNU Compiler Collection'', which refers
24 generically to the complete suite of tools. The name historically stood
25 for ``GNU C Compiler'', and this usage is still common when the emphasis
26 is on compiling C programs. Finally, the name is also used when speaking
27 of the @dfn{language-independent} component of GCC: code shared among the
28 compilers for all supported languages.
30 The language-independent component of GCC includes the majority of the
31 optimizers, as well as the ``back ends'' that generate machine code for
36 The part of a compiler that is specific to a particular language is
37 called the ``front end''. In addition to the front ends that are
38 integrated components of GCC, there are several other front ends that
39 are maintained separately. These support languages such as
40 Mercury, and COBOL@. To use these, they must be built together with
47 Most of the compilers for languages other than C have their own names.
48 The C++ compiler is G++, the Ada compiler is GNAT, and so on. When we
49 talk about compiling one of those languages, we might refer to that
50 compiler by its own name, or as GCC@. Either is correct.
52 @cindex compiler compared to C++ preprocessor
53 @cindex intermediate C version, nonexistent
54 @cindex C intermediate output, nonexistent
55 Historically, compilers for many languages, including C++ and Fortran,
56 have been implemented as ``preprocessors'' which emit another high
57 level language such as C@. None of the compilers included in GCC are
58 implemented this way; they all generate machine code directly. This
59 sort of preprocessor should not be confused with the @dfn{C
60 preprocessor}, which is an integral feature of the C, C++, Objective-C
61 and Objective-C++ languages.