The compiler invocation commands perform all necessary steps to compile C or C++ source files, assemble any .s and .S files, and link the object files and libraries into an executable program.
(1) >>-+---------xlc-------+----------------------------------------> | (2) | '-------+-xlC---+---' '-xlc++-' .-----------------------------------------. | .---------------------. | V V | | >------+-----------------+-+----input_file---+----------------->< '-compiler_option-'
For most applications, you should compile with xlc, xlc++, or a thread safe counterpart. You can use xlc++ to compile either C or C++ program source, but compiling C++ files with xlc may result in link or run time errors because libraries required for C++ code are not specified when the linker is called by the C compiler.
Additional invocation commands are available to meet specialized compilation needs, primarily to provide explicit compilation support for different levels and extensions of the C or C++ language. See Invoking the compiler for more information about compiler invocation commands available to you, including special invocations intended to assist developers migrating from a GNU compilation environment to XL C/C++.