How do I set the C compiler in a Makefile?

How do you set your C compiler in a Makefile? You might write:

a.out: main.c
	clang main.c

clang is your C compiler. Alternatively, you can write:

a.out: main.c
	cc main.c

This does the same thing, because cc is a symbolic link to clang (on my machine):

% ls -l `which cc`
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  5  7 Oct 13:11 /usr/bin/cc -> clang

You can also write:

a.out: main.c
	$(CC) main.c

This again does the same thing, because $(CC) in a Makefile expands to cc. CC is a predefined variable. The point of this is that you may want to redefine CC.

Tagged #make, #c, #programming.
đź‘‹ I'm Jim, a full-stack product engineer. Want to build an amazing product and a profitable business? Read more about me or Get in touch!

More by Jim

This page copyright James Fisher 2016. Content is not associated with my employer. Found an error? Edit this page.