What is the difference between g++ and gcc?

GCC: GNU Compiler Collection

• Referrers to all the different languages that are supported by the GNU compiler.

gcc: GNU C      Compiler
g++: GNU C++ Compiler

The main differences:

1. gcc will compile: *.c\*.cpp files as C and C++ respectively.
2. g++ will compile: *.c\*.cpp files but they will all be treated as C++ files.
3. Also if you use g++ to link the object files it automatically links in the std C++ libraries (gcc does not do this).
4. gcc compiling C files has fewer predefined macros.
5. gcc compiling *.cpp and g++ compiling *.c\*.cpp files has a few extra macros.

Extra Macros when compiling *.cpp files:

#define __GXX_WEAK__ 1
#define __cplusplus 1
#define __DEPRECATED 1
#define __GNUG__ 4
#define __EXCEPTIONS 1
#define __private_extern__ extern

For c++ you should use g++.

It's the same compiler (e.g. the GNU compiler collection). GCC or G++ just choose a different front-end with different default options.

In a nutshell: if you use g++ the frontend will tell the linker that you may want to link with the C++ standard libraries. The gcc frontend won't do that (also it could link with them if you pass the right command line options).

What is the difference between g++ and gcc?

gcc has evolved from a single language "GNU C Compiler" to be a multi-language "GNU Compiler Collection". The term gcc may still sometimes refer to the "GNU C Compiler" in the context of C programming.

man gcc

# GCC(1)                     GNU
# 
# NAME
#        gcc - GNU project C and C++ compiler

However, g++ is the C++ compiler frontend for the GNU Compiler Collection. Like gnat is the Ada compiler frontend for gcc. see Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)

For example, the Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04 man g++ command returns the GCC(1) manual page.

The Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04 man gcc states that ...

g++ accepts mostly the same options as gcc

and that the default ...

... use of gcc does not add the C++ library. g++ is a program that calls GCC and automatically specifies linking against the C++ library. It treats .c, .h and .i files as C++ source files instead of C source files unless -x is used. This program is also useful when precompiling a C header file with a .h extension for use in C++ compilations.

Search the gcc man pages for more details on the option variances between gcc and g++.

Which one should be used for general c++ development?

Technically, either gcc or g++ can be used for general C++ development with applicable option settings. However, the g++ default behavior is naturally aligned to a C++ development.

The Ubuntu 18.04 'gcc' man page added, and Ubuntu 20.04 … Ubuntu 24.04 continue to have, the following paragraph:

The usual way to run GCC is to run the executable called gcc, or machine-gcc when cross-compiling, or machine-gcc-version to run a specific version of GCC. When you compile C++ programs, you should invoke GCC as g++ instead.

Side Note: In the case of the Xcode.app toolchain, g++ simply links to gcc. Thus, g++ invocations may vary on a per-toolchain basis.

ls -l /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin
# …
# lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel         3 Apr 27  2021 g++ -> gcc
# -rwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel    167120 Nov 23 20:51 gcc

One notable difference is that if you pass a .c file to gcc it will compile as C.

The default behavior of g++ is to treat .c files as C++ (unless -x c is specified).

Although the gcc and g++ commands do very similar things, g++ is designed to be the command you'd invoke to compile a C++ program; it's intended to automatically do the right thing.

Behind the scenes, they're really the same program. As I understand, both decide whether to compile a program as C or as C++ based on the filename extension. Both are capable of linking against the C++ standard library, but only g++ does this by default. So if you have a program written in C++ that doesn't happen to need to link against the standard library, gcc will happen to do the right thing; but then, so would g++. So there's really no reason not to use g++ for general C++ development.

I became interested in the issue and perform some experiments

1. I found that description here, but it is very short.

2. Then I tried to experiment with gcc.exe and g++.exe on my windows machine:

   $ g++ --version | head -n1 
   g++.exe (gcc-4.6.3 release with patches [build 20121012 by perlmingw.sf.net]) 4.6.3
   
   $ gcc --version | head -n1
   gcc.exe (gcc-4.6.3 release with patches [build 20121012 by perlmingw.sf.net]) 4.6.3
   

3. I tried to compile c89, c99, and c++1998 simple test files and It's work well for me with correct extensions matching for language

   gcc -std=c99 test_c99.c
   gcc -std=c89 test_c89.c 
   g++ -std=c++98 test_cpp.cpp
   gcc -std=c++98 test_cpp.cpp
   

4. But when I try to run "gnu compiler collection" tool in that fashion:

   $ gcc -std=c++98 test_cpp.c
   cc1.exe: warning: command line option '-std=c++98' is valid for C++/ObjC++ but not for C [enabled by default]
   

5. But this one still work with no errors

   $ gcc -x c++ -std=c++98 test_cpp.c
   

6. And this also

   $ g++ -std=c++0x test_cpp_11.cpp 
   

p.s. Test files

$ cat test_c89.c test_c99.c test_cpp.cpp

// C89 compatible file
int main()
{
    int x[] = {0, 2};
    return sizeof(x);
}

// C99 compatible file
int main()
{
    int x[] = {[1]=2};
    return sizeof(x);
}

// C++1998,2003 compatible file
class X{};
int main()
{
    X x;
    return sizeof(x);
}

// C++11
#include <vector>
enum class Color : int{red,green,blue}; // scoped enum
int main()
{
    std::vector<int> a {1,2,3}; // bracket initialization
    return 0;
}

Findings:

1. If look at process tree then it seems that gcc, and g++ is backend to other tools, which in my environment are: cc1plus.exe, cc1.exe, collect2.exe, as.exe, ld.exe

2. gcc works fine as metatool for if you have correct extension or set correct -std -x flags. See this

From Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC):

“GCC” is a common shorthand term for the GNU Compiler Collection. This is both the most general name for the compiler, and the name used when the emphasis is on compiling C programs (as the abbreviation formerly stood for “GNU C Compiler”).

When referring to C++ compilation, it is usual to call the compiler “G++”. Since there is only one compiler, it is also accurate to call it “GCC” no matter what the language context; however, the term “G++” is more useful when the emphasis is on compiling C++ programs.

You could read more here.

gcc and g ++ are both GNU compiler. They both compile c and c++. The difference is for *.c files gcc treats it as a c program, and g++ sees it as a c ++ program. *.cpp files are considered to be c ++ programs. c++ is a super set of c and the syntax is more strict, so be careful about the suffix.

I was testing gcc and g++ in a linux system. By using MAKEFILE, I can define the compliler used by "GNU make". I tested with the so called "dynamic memory" locating feature of "C plus plus" by :

int main(){

int * myptr = new int;
* myptr = 1;
printf("myptr[0] is %i\n",*myptr);
return 0;
}

Only g++ can successfully compile on my computer while gcc will report error

undefined reference to `operator new(unsigned long)'

So my own conclusion is gcc does not fully support "C plus plus". It seems that choosing g++ for C++ source files is a better option.

g++ and gcc are both compilers provided by the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), and the main difference lies in the languages they are primarily designed to compile.

gcc:

gcc is the GNU Compiler for C. It is primarily used for compiling C programs. When you use gcc to compile a source file, it assumes that the code is written in C.

g++:

g++ is the GNU Compiler for C++. It is specifically designed for compiling C++ programs. When you use g++ to compile a source file, it treats the code as C++ code, enabling C++ features and standards.