Program Compilation

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Compilation and execution of a C++ program depends on the platform or operating system. The following description refers to command-line compilation and execution on UNIX based systems using the GNU family of compilers.

Compiling and Linking

Creating an executable C++ program involves both compilation and linking. For simple programs consisting of a single source file, the compilation and linking can be combined with the following command (assuming the source file is in the current working directory)

g++ -o mypgm mypgm.cc

The -o option specifies the name of the executable program created from compiling and linking the source file mypgm.cc

(:note warn:) Be very careful using this command. It is not unusual to accidentally enter something similar to

    g++ -o mypgm.cc mypgm.cc

instead of that specified above. If you make this mistake, there will be no warning and the compiler will create the executable named mypgm.cc which overwrites your sourcefile. (:noteend:)

Execution

If you the program to be executed is in the current working directory, then simply enter the following, where mypgm is the name of your executable program

./mypgm

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