Compiler

• A C/C++ compiler translates human-readable code (.cpp, .h) into machine-readable object files (.o, .obj)
• A linker then combines these object files and external libraries into a final executable or library binary
• Major meta-build systems (like CMake) auto-detect these compilers natively on your system.

GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)

• Tools
  • gcc
  • g++
• Default debugger
  • gdb
• Platforms supported
  • Linux (native)
  • macOS
  • Windows (via MinGW-w64 or MSYS2)
• Known for
  • robust optimization algorithms
  • deep compliance with modern C++ standards.

Clang

• Tools
  • clang
  • clang++
• Default debugger
  • lldb
• Platform supported
  • Linux
  • macOS (native)
  • Windows (via native Clang-cl or MinGW-w64/MSYS2)
• Known for
  • Extremely fast compile times
  • user-friendly error/warning messages

Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC)

• It is proprietary and developed by Microsoft
• Tools
  • cl.exe
• Default debugger
  • Visual Studio Debugger
• Platform supported
  • Windows only
• Known for
  • Integrate flawlessly with Visual Studio IDE

Debuggers

• Debugging Symbols Format Standard:
  • DWARF: open standard used by GCC and Clang
  • PDB: Microsoft’s proprietary format used by MSVC

GNU Debugger (GDB)

• Tool: gdb
• supports both gcc (native) as well as clang compiled code

LLDB

• Tool: lldb
• Part of LLVM project
• supports both gcc as well as clang (native) compiled code

Visual Studio Debugger

• Microsoft’s proprietary, state-of-the-art graphical debugger
• Built directly into the Visual Studio IDE
• supports cl.exe compiled code (native) as well as clang compiled code

Important Compiler Flags

Optimization Levels

• -O0 (GCC/Clang) / /Od (MSVC)
  • No optimization. Fast compilation, best for active debugging
• -O2 (GCC/Clang) / /O2 (MSVC)
  • Standard production optimization. Balances code speed and binary size
• -O3 (GCC/Clang) / /Ox (MSVC)
  • Aggressive optimization. Maxes out speed performance
• -Os (GCC/Clang) / /O1 (MSVC)
  • Optimizes specifically for the smallest possible binary size

Debugging and Warnings

• -g (GCC/Clang) / /Zi (MSVC)
  • Generates debug symbols (required for debuggers)
• -Wall -Wextra (GCC/Clang) / /W4 (MSVC)
  • Enables almost all compiler warning messages to catch bugs early
• -Werror (GCC/Clang) / /WX (MSVC)
  • Treats all warnings as errors, halting the build if any warning triggers

C++ Language Standards

• -std=c++20 (GCC/Clang) / /std:c++20 (MSVC)
  • Forces the compiler to use a specific C++ language edition