CLANG(1)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1

💖 CLANG(1) — the Clang C, C++, and Objective-C compiler 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the clang page from the Clang manual. this is the big one. it's giving "compiler that does literally everything" energy, and we're gonna walk through it together, no cap. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

clang — the Clang C, C++, and Objective-C compiler. that's it, that's the vibe. 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

clang [options] filename ...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so clang is a C, C++, and Objective-C compiler, and she is booked and busy: preprocessing, parsing, optimization, code generation, assembly, and linking all live in here. iconic multi-hyphenate behavior. depending on which high-level mode setting you pass, Clang will stop before doing a full link.

now, even though Clang is super integrated (like, one big happy friend group), it's genuinely important to understand the stages of compilation so you know how to invoke her. here are the stages:

🌈 Driver

the clang executable is actually a small driver which controls the overall execution of other tools such as the compiler, assembler and linker. typically you do not need to interact with the driver, but you transparently use it to run the other tools. she's the group chat admin fr — you don't talk to her directly, she just makes sure everyone shows up. 💅

🌈 Preprocessing

this stage handles tokenization of the input source file, macro expansion, #include expansion and handling of other preprocessor directives. the output of this stage is typically called a .i (for C), .ii (for C++), .mi (for Objective-C), or .mii (for Objective-C++) file.

🌈 Parsing and Semantic Analysis

this stage parses the input file, translating preprocessor tokens into a parse tree. once in the form of a parse tree, it applies semantic analysis to compute types for expressions as well and determine whether the code is well formed. this stage is responsible for generating most of the compiler warnings as well as parse errors. the output of this stage is an "Abstract Syntax Tree" (AST). she's the one reading your code and going "babe… what is this 😭" — lovingly, though.

🌈 Code Generation and Optimization

this stage translates an AST into low-level intermediate code (known as "LLVM IR") and ultimately to machine code. this phase is responsible for optimizing the generated code and handling target-specific code generation. the output of this stage is typically called a .s file or "assembly" file.

Clang also supports the use of an integrated assembler, in which the code generator produces object files directly. this avoids the overhead of generating the .s file and of calling the target assembler. efficiency queen. 🔥

🌈 Assembler

this stage runs the target assembler to translate the output of the compiler into a target object file. the output of this stage is typically called a .o file or "object" file.

🌈 Linker

this stage runs the target linker to merge multiple object files into an executable or dynamic library. the output of this stage is typically called an a.out, .dylib or .so file.

🌈 Clang Static Analyzer

the Clang Static Analyzer is a tool that scans source code to try to find bugs through code analysis. this tool uses many parts of Clang and is built into the same driver. please see <https://clang-analyzer.llvm.org> for more details on how to use the static analyzer. she's the friend who reads the whole conversation and spots the red flags before anyone else does 🚩

💅 OPTIONS 💅

⭐ Stage Selection Options

these tell Clang where to stop, like picking which floor to get off the elevator at 🛗

  • -E — run the preprocessor stage.
  • -fsyntax-only — run the preprocessor, parser and semantic analysis stages.
  • -S — run the previous stages as well as LLVM generation and optimization stages and target-specific code generation, producing an assembly file.
  • -c — run all of the above, plus the assembler, generating a target .o object file.
  • no stage selection option — if no stage selection option is specified, all stages above are run, and the linker is run to combine the results into an executable or shared library.

⭐ Language Selection and Mode Options

  • -x <language> — treat subsequent input files as having type language.
  • -std=<standard> — specify the language standard to compile for.

supported values for the C language are:

c89
c90
iso9899:1990

    ISO C 1990
iso9899:199409

    ISO C 1990 with amendment 1
gnu89
gnu90

    ISO C 1990 with GNU extensions
c99
iso9899:1999

    ISO C 1999
gnu99

    ISO C 1999 with GNU extensions
c11
iso9899:2011

    ISO C 2011
gnu11

    ISO C 2011 with GNU extensions
c17
iso9899:2017

    ISO C 2017
gnu17

    ISO C 2017 with GNU extensions

the default C language standard is gnu17, except on PS4, where it is gnu99. (PS4 stays on her old fave, respect 💜)

supported values for the C++ language are:

c++98
c++03

    ISO C++ 1998 with amendments
gnu++98
gnu++03

    ISO C++ 1998 with amendments and GNU extensions
c++11

    ISO C++ 2011 with amendments
gnu++11

    ISO C++ 2011 with amendments and GNU extensions
c++14

    ISO C++ 2014 with amendments
gnu++14

    ISO C++ 2014 with amendments and GNU extensions
c++17

    ISO C++ 2017 with amendments
gnu++17

    ISO C++ 2017 with amendments and GNU extensions
c++20

    ISO C++ 2020 with amendments
gnu++20

    ISO C++ 2020 with amendments and GNU extensions
c++2b

    Working draft for ISO C++ 2023
gnu++2b

    Working draft for ISO C++ 2023 with GNU extensions

the default C++ language standard is gnu++17.

supported values for the OpenCL language are:

cl1.0

    OpenCL 1.0
cl1.1

    OpenCL 1.1
cl1.2

    OpenCL 1.2
cl2.0

    OpenCL 2.0

the default OpenCL language standard is cl1.0.

supported values for the CUDA language are:

cuda

    NVIDIA CUDA(tm)
  • -stdlib=<library> — specify the C++ standard library to use; supported options are libstdc++ and libc++. if not specified, platform default will be used.
  • -rtlib=<library> — specify the compiler runtime library to use; supported options are libgcc and compiler-rt. if not specified, platform default will be used.
  • -ansi — same as -std=c89.
  • -ObjC, -ObjC++ — treat source input files as Objective-C and Object-C++ inputs respectively.
  • -trigraphs — enable trigraphs.
  • -ffreestanding — indicate that the file should be compiled for a freestanding, not a hosted, environment. note that it is assumed that a freestanding environment will additionally provide memcpy, memmove, memset and memcmp implementations, as these are needed for efficient codegen for many programs. so like, she's trusting you to bring snacks to the party 🍓
  • -fno-builtin — disable special handling and optimizations of well-known library functions, like strlen() and malloc().
  • -fno-builtin-<function> — disable special handling and optimizations for the specific library function. for example, -fno-builtin-strlen removes any special handling for the strlen() library function.
  • -fno-builtin-std-<function> — disable special handling and optimizations for the specific C++ standard library function in namespace std. for example, -fno-builtin-std-move_if_noexcept removes any special handling for the std::move_if_noexcept() library function.

for C standard library functions that the C++ standard library also provides in namespace std, use -fno-builtin-<function> instead. iykyk 💫

  • -fmath-errno — indicate that math functions should be treated as updating errno.
  • -fpascal-strings — enable support for Pascal-style strings with "\pfoo".
  • -fms-extensions — enable support for Microsoft extensions.
  • -fmsc-version= — set _MSC_VER. defaults to 1300 on Windows. not set otherwise.
  • -fborland-extensions — enable support for Borland extensions.
  • -fwritable-strings — make all string literals default to writable. this disables uniquing of strings and other optimizations. (yes she's letting you write on the literal, and yes she's giving up some optimization for it — that's the trade, bestie 💀)
  • -flax-vector-conversions, -flax-vector-conversions=<kind>, -fno-lax-vector-conversions — allow loose type checking rules for implicit vector conversions. possible values of <kind>:
    • none: allow no implicit conversions between vectors
    • integer: allow implicit bitcasts between integer vectors of the same overall bit-width
    • all: allow implicit bitcasts between any vectors of the same overall bit-width

<kind> defaults to integer if unspecified.

  • -fblocks — enable the "Blocks" language feature.
  • -fobjc-abi-version=version — select the Objective-C ABI version to use. available versions are 1 (legacy "fragile" ABI), 2 (non-fragile ABI 1), and 3 (non-fragile ABI 2).
  • -fobjc-nonfragile-abi-version=<version> — select the Objective-C non-fragile ABI version to use by default. this will only be used as the Objective-C ABI when the non-fragile ABI is enabled (either via -fobjc-nonfragile-abi, or because it is the platform default).
  • -fobjc-nonfragile-abi, -fno-objc-nonfragile-abi — enable use of the Objective-C non-fragile ABI. on platforms for which this is the default ABI, it can be disabled with -fno-objc-nonfragile-abi.

⭐ Target Selection Options

Clang fully supports cross compilation as an inherent part of its design. depending on how your version of Clang is configured, it may have support for a number of cross compilers, or may only support a native target. she's versatile like that 🌍

  • -arch <architecture> — specify the architecture to build for (Mac OS X specific).
  • -target <architecture> — specify the architecture to build for (all platforms).
  • -mmacosx-version-min=<version> — when building for macOS, specify the minimum version supported by your application.
  • -miphoneos-version-min — when building for iPhone OS, specify the minimum version supported by your application.
  • --print-supported-cpus — print out a list of supported processors for the given target (specified through --target=<architecture> or -arch <architecture>). if no target is specified, the system default target will be used.
  • -mcpu=?, -mtune=? — acts as an alias for --print-supported-cpus.

okay that's part one done, and we're literally only getting started — more is coming, don't go anywhere bestie 🎀

  • -march=<cpu> — tells Clang "bestie, generate code for this specific processor family member and everything later than it, mwah." So like, if you say -march=i486, the compiler is allowed to emit instructions that are valid on i486 and later processors, but which may not exist on earlier ones. Iconic, but it will not run on your grandma's 386. 💅

✨ Code Generation Options ✨

  • -O0, -O1, -O2, -O3, -Ofast, -Os, -Oz, -Og, -O, -O4 — the optimization level picker, aka "how hard should the compiler try." Here's the whole menu:
    • -O0 means "no optimization": this level compiles the fastest and generates the most debuggable code. Lowkey the vibe when you're debugging at 2am. 🫶
    • -O1 — somewhere between -O0 and -O2. The middle child, no cap.
    • -O2 — moderate level of optimization which enables most optimizations. The safe slay. 👑
    • -O3 — like -O2, except that it enables optimizations that take longer to perform or that may generate larger code (in an attempt to make the program run faster). Big code, big speed, big energy.
    • -Ofast — enables all the optimizations from -O3 along with other aggressive optimizations that may violate strict compliance with language standards. ⚠️ She is not a rules girl. If standards compliance matters to you, do NOT let her cook.
    • -Os — like -O2 with extra optimizations to reduce code size. Tiny program, big brain. 🎀
    • -Oz — like -Os (and thus -O2), but reduces code size further. Even tinier. Microscopic. 🧚
    • -Og — like -O1. In future versions, this option might disable different optimizations in order to improve debuggability.
    • -O — equivalent to -O1. Just the shorthand bestie.
    • -O4 and higher — currently equivalent to -O3. So yes, you can type -O99, it's just gonna do -O3 things. 💀
  • -g, -gline-tables-only, -gmodules — these control debug information output. Note that Clang debug information works best at -O0 (fr fr, debug at -O0). When more than one option starting with -g is specified, the last one wins:
    • -g — generate debug information. The classic. ✨
    • -gline-tables-only — generate only line table debug information. This allows for symbolicated backtraces with inlining information, but does not include any information about variables, their locations or types. So like, you get the map, not the luggage. 🙈
    • -gmodules — generate debug information that contains external references to types defined in Clang modules or precompiled headers instead of emitting redundant debug type information into every object file. This option transparently switches the Clang module format to object file containers that hold the Clang module together with the debug information. When compiling a program that uses Clang modules or precompiled headers, this option produces complete debug information with faster compile times and much smaller object files. It's giving efficiency queen. 🔥
🚨 Bestie, do not use this option when building static libraries for distribution to other machines, because the debug info will contain references to the module cache on the machine the object files in the library were built on. That's a whole mess you don't want.
  • -fstandalone-debug, -fno-standalone-debug — okay so Clang supports a number of optimizations to reduce the size of debug information in the binary. They work based on the assumption that the debug type information can be spread out over multiple compilation units. For instance, Clang will not emit type definitions for types that are not needed by a module and could be replaced with a forward declaration. Further, Clang will only emit type info for a dynamic C++ class in the module that contains the vtable for the class.

The -fstandalone-debug option turns off these optimizations. This is useful when working with 3rd-party libraries that don't come with debug information. This is the default on Darwin. Note that Clang will never emit type information for types that are not referenced at all by the program. Like, never ever. Periodt.

  • -feliminate-unused-debug-types — by default, Clang does not emit type information for types that are defined but not used in a program. To retain the debug info for these unused types, the negation -fno-eliminate-unused-debug-types can be used. Two sides of the same coin, iykyk. 🪙
  • -fexceptions — enable generation of unwind information. This allows exceptions to be thrown through Clang compiled stack frames. This is on by default in x86-64. Slay by default, honestly. 🦋
  • -ftrapv — generate code to catch integer overflow errors. Signed integer overflow is undefined in C. With this flag, extra code is generated to detect this and abort when it happens. So instead of mysterious chaos, you get a nice loud crash. Honestly? A courtesy. 💀
  • -fvisibility — this flag sets the default visibility level. That's it, that's the whole vibe check.
  • -fcommon, -fno-common — this flag specifies that variables without initializers get common linkage. It can be disabled with -fno-common.
  • -ftls-model=<model> — set the default thread-local storage (TLS) model to use for thread-local variables. Valid values are: "global-dynamic", "local-dynamic", "initial-exec" and "local-exec". The default is "global-dynamic". The default model can be overridden with the tls_model attribute. The compiler will try to choose a more efficient model if possible — she's always looking out for you. 🫶
  • -flto, -flto=full, -flto=thin, -emit-llvm — generate output files in LLVM formats, suitable for link time optimization. When used with -S this generates LLVM intermediate language assembly files, otherwise this generates LLVM bitcode format object files (which may be passed to the linker depending on the stage selection options).

The default for -flto is "full", in which the LLVM bitcode is suitable for monolithic Link Time Optimization (LTO), where the linker merges all such modules into a single combined module for optimization. With "thin", ThinLTO compilation is invoked instead. Two flavors, both iconic. 🌈

NOTE: on Darwin, when using -flto along with -g and compiling and linking in separate steps, you also need to pass -Wl,-object_path_lto,<lto-filename>.o at the linking step to instruct the ld64 linker not to delete the temporary object file generated during Link Time Optimization (this flag is automatically passed to the linker by Clang if compilation and linking are done in a single step). This allows debugging the executable as well as generating the .dSYM bundle using dsymutil(1). Bestie, write that down. 📝

🌸 Driver Options 🌸

  • -### — print (but do not run) the commands to run for this compilation. Peek behind the curtain, don't touch anything. 👀
  • --help — display available options.
  • -Qunused-arguments — do not emit any warnings for unused driver arguments. Silence, bestie. 🤫
  • -Wa,<args> — pass the comma separated arguments in args to the assembler.
  • -Wl,<args> — pass the comma separated arguments in args to the linker.
  • -Wp,<args> — pass the comma separated arguments in args to the preprocessor.
  • -Xanalyzer <arg> — pass arg to the static analyzer.
  • -Xassembler <arg> — pass arg to the assembler.
  • -Xlinker <arg> — pass arg to the linker.
  • -Xpreprocessor <arg> — pass arg to the preprocessor.
  • -o <file> — write output to file. Name your baby. 💖
  • -print-file-name=<file> — print the full library path of file.
  • -print-libgcc-file-name — print the library path for the currently used compiler runtime library ("libgcc.a" or "libclang_rt.builtins.*.a").
  • -print-prog-name=<name> — print the full program path of name.
  • -print-search-dirs — print the paths used for finding libraries and programs.
  • -save-temps — save intermediate compilation results. Hoarder behavior but make it useful. 🎀
  • -save-stats, -save-stats=cwd, -save-stats=obj — save internal code generation (LLVM) statistics to a file in the current directory (-save-stats/"-save-stats=cwd") or the directory of the output file ("-save-state=obj").
  • -integrated-as, -no-integrated-as — used to enable and disable, respectively, the use of the integrated assembler. Whether the integrated assembler is on by default is target dependent.
  • -time — time individual commands. ⏱️
  • -ftime-report — print timing summary of each stage of compilation.
  • -v — show commands to run and use verbose output. She's a talker, and honestly? We love her for it. 🗣️

🩺 Diagnostics Options 🩺

  • -fshow-column, -fshow-source-location, -fcaret-diagnostics, -fdiagnostics-fixit-info, -fdiagnostics-parseable-fixits, -fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info, -fprint-source-range-info, -fdiagnostics-show-option, -fmessage-length — these options control how Clang prints out information about diagnostics (errors and warnings). Please see the Clang User's Manual for more information. That's the whole tea. ☕

💜 Preprocessor Options 💜

  • -D<macroname>=<value> — adds an implicit #define into the predefines buffer which is read before the source file is preprocessed.
  • -U<macroname> — adds an implicit #undef into the predefines buffer which is read before the source file is preprocessed.
  • -include <filename> — adds an implicit #include into the predefines buffer which is read before the source file is preprocessed.
  • -I<directory> — add the specified directory to the search path for include files. 📁
  • -F<directory> — add the specified directory to the search path for framework include files.
  • -nostdinc — do not search the standard system directories or compiler builtin directories for include files. Going fully off-grid. 🏕️
  • -nostdlibinc — do not search the standard system directories for include files, but do search compiler builtin include directories.
  • -nobuiltininc — do not search clang's builtin directory for include files.

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • TMPDIR, TEMP, TMP — these environment variables are checked, in order, for the location to write temporary files used during the compilation process. Like a little scavenger hunt for a temp folder. 🔍
  • CPATH — if this environment variable is present, it is treated as a delimited list of paths to be added to the default system include path list. The delimiter is the platform dependent delimiter, as used in the PATH environment variable.

Empty components in the environment variable are ignored. No awkward gaps, we simply do not see them. 💅

  • C_INCLUDE_PATH, OBJC_INCLUDE_PATH, CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH, OBJCPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH — these environment variables specify additional paths, as for CPATH, which are only used when processing the appropriate language. Each one only speaks its own language, fr fr. 🗣️
  • MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET — if -mmacosx-version-min is unspecified, the default deployment target is read from this environment variable. This option only affects Darwin targets. macOS only, bestie, don't try it on your Linux box. 🍎

🐛 BUGS 🐛

ok so if you found a bug (and bestie, you will find bugs, it's giving software) please go report it at <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/>. That's the spot. Iconic issue tracker energy.

But listen — a bug report that's just "it broke 😭" is not it. Most bug reports should include:

  • preprocessed source files (use the -E option, bestie, that's literally what it's for ✨)
  • the full output of the compiler — full, not the one line you thought looked sus
  • information to reproduce

No repro steps = no vibes check = the maintainers can't help you. Give them everything so they can actually slay the fix. 🫶

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

the whole gang's here 💅

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Maintained by the Clang / LLVM Team (<http://clang.llvm.org>). Legends, honestly. They keep the whole thing running so we can all keep compiling. iykyk. 🧚

2007-2023, The Clang Team. periodt.

🌸 okay that's the whole page, bestie!! you made it to the end, main character energy fr fr 🎀 this was Clang, version 16, dated 2023-05-24 — the classic CLANG(1) moment. now go compile something iconic 💖🔥

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