Using and Porting GNU CC

3.5: Options Controlling C++ Dialect

This section describes the command-line options that are only meaningful for C++ programs; but you can also use most of the GNU compiler options regardless of what language your program is in. For example, you might compile a file firstClass.C like this:

g++ -g -felide-constructors -O -c firstClass.C

In this example, only `-felide-constructors' is an option meant only for C++ programs; you can use the other options with any language supported by GNU CC.

Here is a list of options that are only for compiling C++ programs:

-fall-virtual

Treat all possible member functions as virtual, implicitly. All member functions (except for constructor functions and new or delete member operators) are treated as virtual functions of the class where they appear.

This does not mean that all calls to these member functions will be made through the internal table of virtual functions. Under some circumstances, the compiler can determine that a call to a given virtual function can be made directly; in these cases the calls are direct in any case.

-fdollars-in-identifiers

Accept `$' in identifiers. You can also explicitly prohibit use of `$' with the option `-fno-dollars-in-identifiers'. (GNU C++ allows `$' by default on some target systems but not others.) Traditional C allowed the character `$' to form part of identifiers. However, ANSI C and C++ forbid `$' in identifiers.

-felide-constructors

Elide constructors when this seems plausible. With this option, GNU C++ initializes y directly from the call to foo without going through a temporary in the following code:

A foo ();
A y = foo ();

Without this option, GNU C++ (1) initializes y by calling the appropriate constructor for type A; (2) assigns the result of foo to a temporary; and, finally, (3) replaces the initial value of y with the temporary.

The default behavior (`-fno-elide-constructors') is specified by the draft ANSI C++ standard. If your program's constructors have side effects, `-felide-constructors' can change your program's behavior, since some constructor calls may be omitted.

-fenum-int-equiv

Permit implicit conversion of int to enumeration types. Normally GNU C++ allows conversion of enum to int, but not the other way around.

-fexternal-templates

Produce smaller code for template declarations, by generating only a single copy of each template function where it is defined. To use this option successfully, you must also mark all files that use templates with either `#pragma implementation' (the definition) or `#pragma interface' (declarations). See C++ Interface, for more discussion of these pragmas.

When your code is compiled with `-fexternal-templates', all template instantiations are external. You must arrange for all necessary instantiations to appear in the implementation file; you can do this with a typedef that references each instantiation needed. Conversely, when you compile using the default option `-fno-external-templates', all template instantiations are explicitly internal.

You do not need to specify `-fexternal-templates' when compiling a file that does not define and instantiate templates used in other files, even if your file uses templates defined in other files that are compiled with `-fexternal-templates'. The only side effect is an increase in object size for each file that you compile without `-fexternal-templates'.

-fhandle-signatures

Recognize the signature and sigof keywords for specifying abstract types. The default (`-fno-handle-signatures') is not to recognize them. See Type Abstraction using Signatures.

-fmemoize-lookups

-fsave-memoized

Use heuristics to compile faster. These heuristics are not enabled by default, since they are only effective for certain input files. Other input files compile more slowly.

The first time the compiler must build a call to a member function (or reference to a data member), it must (1) determine whether the class implements member functions of that name; (2) resolve which member function to call (which involves figuring out what sorts of type conversions need to be made); and (3) check the visibility of the member function to the caller. All of this adds up to slower compilation. Normally, the second time a call is made to that member function (or reference to that data member), it must go through the same lengthy process again. This means that code like this:

cout << "This " << p << " has " << n << " legs.\n";

makes six passes through all three steps. By using a software cache, a ``hit'' significantly reduces this cost. Unfortunately, using the cache introduces another layer of mechanisms which must be implemented, and so incurs its own overhead. `-fmemoize-lookups' enables the software cache.

Because access privileges (visibility) to members and member functions may differ from one function context to the next, G++ may need to flush the cache. With the `-fmemoize-lookups' flag, the cache is flushed after every function that is compiled. The `-fsave-memoized' flag enables the same software cache, but when the compiler determines that the context of the last function compiled would yield the same access privileges of the next function to compile, it preserves the cache. This is most helpful when defining many member functions for the same class: with the exception of member functions which are friends of other classes, each member function has exactly the same access privileges as every other, and the cache need not be flushed.

-fno-strict-prototype

Treat a function declaration with no arguments, such as `int foo ();', as C would treat it---as saying nothing about the number of arguments or their types. Normally, such a declaration in C++ means that the function foo takes no arguments.

-fnonnull-objects

Assume that objects reached through references are not null.

Normally, GNU C++ makes conservative assumptions about objects reached through references. For example, the compiler must check that a is not null in code like the following:

obj &a = g ();
a.f (2);

Checking that references of this sort have non-null values requires extra code, however, and it is unnecessary for many programs. You can use `-fnonnull-objects' to omit the checks for null, if your program doesn't require checking.

-fthis-is-variable

Permit assignment to this. The incorporation of user-defined free store management into C++ has made assignment to `this' an anachronism. Therefore, by default it is invalid to assign to this within a class member function; that is, GNU C++ treats the type of `this' in a member function of class X to be `X *const'. However, for backwards compatibility, you can make it valid with `-fthis-is-variable'.

-nostdinc++

Do not search for header files in the standard directories specific to C++, but do still search the other standard directories. (This option is used when building libg++.)

-traditional

For C++ programs (in addition to the effects that apply to both C and C++), this has the same effect as `-fthis-is-variable'. See C Dialect Options.

In addition, these optimization, warning, and code generation options have meanings only for C++ programs:

-fno-default-inline

Do not assume `inline' for functions defined inside a class scope. See Optimize Options.

-Wenum-clash

-Woverloaded-virtual

-Wtemplate-debugging

Warnings that apply only to C++ programs. See Warning Options.

+en

Control how virtual function definitions are used, in a fashion compatible with cfront 1.x. See Code Gen Options.