The Definitive Guide to GCC [Paperback]

William von Hagen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590595858 | ISBN-13: 978-1590595855 | Publication Date: August 11, 2006 | Edition: 2nd ed.

The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) offers a variety of compilers for a variety of programming languages, including C, C++, Java, Fortran, and Ada. The Definitive Guide to GCC, Second Edition, has been revised to reflect the changes made in the most recent major GCC release, version 4. Providing in-depth instruction to GCC's enormous array of features and options, and introducing crucial tools such as autoconf, gprof, and libtool, beginners and experts alike will appreciate using this book as both a guide and reference for years to come.

However this book goes well beyond a general introduction, introducing key programming techniques, such as profiling and optimization that when used in conjunction with GCC's advanced features can greatly improve application performance. Also, in order to account for the growing popularity of GCC's other language compilers, the second edition has been expanded to provide coverage for C++, Java, Fortran and Ada.

Newly expanded and revised, The Definitive Guide to GCC, Second Edition will prove to be an invaluable resource for both students seeking to become further acquainted with this crucial developer's tool as well as for experts who use GCC on a daily basis.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This book is a user’s guide for some of the more commonly used GNU compilers and their collection of supporting tools. … This would be useful for more advanced users. … It also provides a good starting point for anyone that needs more information than what is in this book." (J. Miller, ACM Computing Reviews, Vol. 49 (2), February, 2008)

About the Author

Kurt Wall first touched a computer in 1980 when he learned FORTRAN on an IBM mainframe of forgotten vintage; things have only gotten better since. A professional technical writer by trade, Kurt has worked for companies as diverse as Virtual Solutions Inc. to Caldera Systems, where he created the documentation for the OpenLinux eServer and eDesktop and associated tools. These days, Kurt works for TimeSys Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he writes all of the Linux documentation for TimeSys's embedded Linux products.

Kurt is the author of Red Hat Linux Networking and System Administration (Red Hat, ISBN: 0-76453-632-X), Linux Programming Unleashed, Second Edition (Sams, ISBN: 0-67232-021-5), Linux Programming by Example (Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13142-964-7), and the coauthor of Red Hat Linux 7.2 Weekend Crash Course (Wiley, ISBN: 0-76453-642-7). He has contributed to over 15 other Linux-related books covering topics such as system administration, performance tuning, clustering, and programming.

William von Hagen holds degrees in computer science, English writing, and art history. William has worked with UNIX systems since 1982, during which time he has been a system administrator, systems programmer, software developer, development manager, computing facilities operations manager, writer, documentation manager, and (now) content manager. William has written a number of books, including Linux Filesystems (Sams, ISBN: 0-67232-272-2), Installing Red Hat Linux 7(Sams, ISBN: 0-67232-084-3), SGML for Dummies (Hungry Minds Inc, ISBN: 0-76450-175-5), and contributed to writing Red Hat 7 Unleashed (Sams, ISBN: 0-67231-985-3).

Most recently, Hagen coauthored Mac OS X Power User's Guide (Muska & Lipman/Premier Trade, ISBN: 1-93184-144-6) with Brian Proffitt. William has written articles and software reviews for publications including Linux Magazine, Linux Format (UK), Maximum Linux, Mac Tech Magazine, Mac Home Magazine, and Mac Directory, and he has written extensive online material for CMP Media, Linux Planet, and Corel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 2nd ed. edition (August 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590595858
• ISBN-13: 978-1590595855
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Compilers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference, April 30, 2007

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Definitive Guide to GCC (Paperback)

The Definitive Guide to GCC covers the ways to use the GCC Compiler to compile programs written in C, C++, Fortran, and Java. For each of these languages the author discusses how it is implemented within the GCC compiler. While all the sections of the book are good the parts I found the best were the ones on optimizing and analyzing code as well as troubleshooting GCC. These are very well done sections and cover stuff that is often left out of other texts or not explained nearly as well.

This can be a dauntingly technical book for those unfamiliar with programming and compiling but that is also what makes it so perfect for the experienced user. It is an extensive reference that includes not only the common options but also some of the more obscure options and switches that can be highly useful in the right circumstances.

The Definitive Guide to GCC is typical of the "Definitive Guide" series by Apress and does not disappoint in terms of expertise, detail, and easy to follow explanations. If you want to know the GCC compiler, the details of how to use it, and troubleshoot compilation problems you will find this book to be one of the best resources you can find. The Definitive Guide to GCC is highly recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference for GCC, December 10, 2006

By 

C. Madden "Blake Madden" (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Definitive Guide to GCC (Paperback)

Actually, this book does cover the FORTRAN and Java aspects of GCC for a couple of chapters, but yes it is mostly for C/C++ programmers. Anyway, if you want to learn about all of GCC's different switches, optimization techniques, and warnings then this book has it all. It also covers the "helper" tools like gcov.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate GCC Book, March 30, 2007

By 

Kenneth Hess (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Definitive Guide to GCC (Paperback)

Wow. Von Hagen hit a home run with this one. Most programming books are a great answer for insomnia but the well written style of this book almost makes it a "page turner" and that says something for this man's style. I typically shy away from such subjects but was sufficiently impressed enough to delve deeper.
It is apparent from the very beginning when the discussion opens with C compilers that this guy knows just about everything there is to know about GCC.
I don't agree with the Beginner to Intermediate level as I think it is probably an Intermediate book. You really should know something about programming to be successful in understanding and enjoying the book.
Apress is known for highly technical and very well-written books and this one is no different. They certainly seem to find the experts in the field to write their books.
GCC will certainly put you one up on the competition but you may have to read it twice because it is very packed with information. Keep it handy as an invaluable reference.