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<h3 class="section">3.3 Compiling C++ Programs</h3>

<p><a name="index-suffixes-for-C_002b_002b-source-88"></a><a name="index-C_002b_002b-source-file-suffixes-89"></a>C++ source files conventionally use one of the suffixes &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.C</span></samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.cc</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.cpp</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.CPP</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.c++</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.cp</span></samp>&rsquo;, or
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.cxx</span></samp>&rsquo;; C++ header files often use &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.hh</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.hpp</span></samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.H</span></samp>&rsquo;, or (for shared template code) &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.tcc</span></samp>&rsquo;; and
preprocessed C++ files use the suffix &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.ii</span></samp>&rsquo;.  GCC recognizes
files with these names and compiles them as C++ programs even if you
call the compiler the same way as for compiling C programs (usually
with the name <samp><span class="command">gcc</span></samp>).

 <p><a name="index-g_002b_002b-90"></a><a name="index-c_002b_002b-91"></a>However, the use of <samp><span class="command">gcc</span></samp> does not add the C++ library. 
<samp><span class="command">g++</span></samp> is a program that calls GCC and treats &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.c</span></samp>&rsquo;,
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.h</span></samp>&rsquo; and &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.i</span></samp>&rsquo; files as C++ source files instead of C source
files unless <samp><span class="option">-x</span></samp> is used, and automatically specifies linking
against the C++ library.  This program is also useful when
precompiling a C header file with a &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.h</span></samp>&rsquo; extension for use in C++
compilations.  On many systems, <samp><span class="command">g++</span></samp> is also installed with
the name <samp><span class="command">c++</span></samp>.

 <p><a name="index-invoking-_0040command_007bg_002b_002b_007d-92"></a>When you compile C++ programs, you may specify many of the same
command-line options that you use for compiling programs in any
language; or command-line options meaningful for C and related
languages; or options that are meaningful only for C++ programs. 
See <a href="C-Dialect-Options.html#C-Dialect-Options">Options Controlling C Dialect</a>, for
explanations of options for languages related to C. 
See <a href="C_002b_002b-Dialect-Options.html#C_002b_002b-Dialect-Options">Options Controlling C++ Dialect</a>, for
explanations of options that are meaningful only for C++ programs.

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