by William von Hagen
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Product Description
The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) offers a variety of compilers for different 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 information on GCC's enormous array of features and options, and introducing crucial tools such as autoconf, gprof, and libtool, this book functions as both a guide and reference. This book goes well beyond a general introduction to GCC and covers key programming techniques such as profiling and optimization that, when used in conjunction with GCCs advanced features, can greatly improve application performance. This second edition will prove to be an invaluable resource, whether youre a student seeking familiarity with this crucial tool or an expert who uses GCC on a daily basis.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Reasonable, but doesn't add that much that the man page doesn't cover, 2008-08-19
I'm not a big fan of GCC, and I don't think that opensource is the be all and end all. I'll try to be objective and not let my likes and dislikes colour this review.
The book seems to have a fairly good coverage of the main languages that GCC supports (C, C++, Java, Fortran, Objective C and Objective C++). I liked the coverage on optimisation and building GCC.
Now for some bad points. There is some annoying repetition - we get told far too many times that -pg is not the same as -p -g. The author proseletizes GNU software, and urges us to install GNU sed, awk, tar etc. In particular, I would not recommend GNU tar due to its nonstandard treatment of long filenames. I felt that the chapters on automake, autoconf, libtool and glibc were out of place in a book about a compiler suite. I try to avoid automake, autoconf and libtool (or autohell as they are collectively known as) like the plague as they are slow, unreliable when using platforms/compilers other than Linux/GCC and suffer chronic version dependency problems. I don't see any "amazing beauty" whatsoever (p. 185) in these three tools. I found the occasional digs at platforms such as VMS [which I've never used] somewhat unprofessional.
The glibc coverage adds to an overly Linux centric feel to the book (I almost as much about Linux disaster recovery as I learnt about GCC on reading this book).
Rather than covering libtool, I would have preferred coverage of GNU ld (with a mention that the system link editor may be used on platforms that don't have GNU ld as the link editor).
Last annoyance. Whilst I liked the alphabetical listing of options, there is not always a description of the default if no option is specified.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Good book, needs more content review, 2008-07-03
This is fine book, it's well written and easy to follow.. My only grip is with inaccuracies in the compile option appendix. The defined effect of certain options is the reverse from there actual effect. This caused me a bit of trouble when I tried to use the options and wasn't getting the results I expected. The online documentation was consistent with my results. My suggestion is double check the options against the gnu online reference. Hopefully in the following editions (if there will be any) this will be cleared up.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A lot of useful information about the gcc compiler, 2007-12-01
If you want to know more about the gcc compiler this is the right book. Some alreade gcc experienced people could argue that the information could be found by searching the internet but I do not think so.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
 Excellent Reference, 2007-04-30
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.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
The Ultimate GCC Book, 2007-03-31
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.
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