GNU Compiler Collection

GCC is the GNU Compiler Collection. Originally, it stood for GNU C Compiler, but it now handles many different programming languages besides C.

GCC is a GPL-licensed compiler distributed by the Free Software Foundation, and a key enabling technology for the Open Source Software (OSS) and Free software movements. Originally written by Richard Stallman in 1987, GCC is now maintained by a varied group of programmers from around the world. It has been ported to more kinds of processors and operating systems than any other compiler.

In 1997, a group of developers dissatisfied with the slow pace and closed nature of official GCC development formed a project called EGCS (Experimental/Enhanced GNU Compiler System) which merged several experimental forks into a single project forked from GCC. EGCS development subsequently proved sufficiently more vital than GCC development that EGCS was eventually "blessed" as the official version of GCC in April 1999.

GCC has been adopted as the main compiler used to build and develop for a number of systems, including GNU/Linux, the BSDss, Mac OS X, NeXTSTEP, and BeOS.

As of version 3.2, the standard compiler release includes front ends for:

Ada (GCC for Ada aka GNAT)
C
C++ (GCC for C++ aka G++)
Fortran (GCC for Fortran aka G77)
Java
Objective-C
Treelang

A front end for CHILL was previously included, but has been dropped due to lack of maintenance. Pascal, Modula-2, Modula-3, Mercury and Objective-C++ frontends also exist.

GCC target processors (as of version 3.2) include:

Lesser-known target processors supported in the standard release have included A29K, ARC, AVR, C4x, CRIS, D30V, DSP16xx, FR-30, FR-V, Intel i960, IP2000, M32R, 68HC11, MCORE, MMIX, MN10200, MN10300, NS32K, ROMP, Stormy16, V850, Xtensa. Additional processors, such as the D10V and Z8000, have been supported by GCC versions maintained separately from the FSF version.

The GCC homepage is at gcc.gnu.org