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GCC ○›｜Definition｜1st｜20260722182154-00-⌔

GNU Compiler Collection - Wikipedia

GNU Compiler Collection

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The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC; formerly GNU C Compiler) is a collection of compilers from the GNU Project that support various programming languages, hardware architectures, and operating systems. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) distributes GCC as free software under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL). GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain which is used for most projects related to GNU and the Linux kernel. With roughly 15 million lines of code in 2019, GCC is one of the largest free programs in existence.[^4] It has played an important role in the growth of free software, as both a tool and an example.

When it was first released in 1987 by Richard Stallman, GCC 1.0 was named the GNU C Compiler since it only handled the C programming language.[^1] It was extended to compile C++ in December of that year. Front ends were later developed for Objective-C, Objective-C++, Fortran, Ada, Go, D, Modula-2, Rust, COBOL, and ALGOL 68 among others.1 The OpenMP and OpenACC specifications are also supported in the C and C++ compilers.23

As well as being the official compiler of the GNU operating system, GCC has been adopted as the standard compiler by many other modern Unix-like computer operating systems, including most Linux distributions. Most BSD family operating systems also switched to GCC shortly after its release, although since then, FreeBSD and Apple macOS have moved to the Clang compiler,4 largely due to licensing reasons.567 GCC can also compile code for Windows, Android, iOS, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and MS-DOS compatible operating systems.8

GCC has been ported to more platforms and instruction set architectures than any other compiler, and is widely deployed as a tool in the development of both free and proprietary software. GCC is also available for many embedded systems, including ARM -based and Power ISA -based chips.

Printed 2026-07-22.

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Footnotes

  1. “GCC Front Ends”. GNU Project. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026. ↩

  2. “GCC 6 Release Series — Changes, New Features, and Fixes - GNU Project”. gcc.gnu.org. Archived from the original on September 22, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016. ↩

  3. “OpenACC - GCC Wiki”. gcc.gnu.org. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2016. ↩

  4. “The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure Project”. llvm.org. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2021. ↩

  5. “Apple’s GPLv3 purge”. meta.ath0.com. February 5, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2021. ↩

  6. Linnemann, Reid (June 20, 2012). “Why Clang”. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2021. ↩

  7. “August 29, 2007: FreeBSD Foundation Newsletter, August 29, 2007”. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2021. ↩

  8. “Installing GCC: Binaries - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)”. gcc.gnu.org. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021. ↩

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GCC ○›｜Website｜1st｜20260121233507-00-●

GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection - GNU Project (Retrieved 2026-07-22.)
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