1 clang - the Clang C, C++, and Objective-C compiler
2 ==================================================
7 :program:`clang` [*options*] *filename ...*
12 :program:`clang` is a C, C++, and Objective-C compiler which encompasses
13 preprocessing, parsing, optimization, code generation, assembly, and linking.
14 Depending on which high-level mode setting is passed, Clang will stop before
15 doing a full link. While Clang is highly integrated, it is important to
16 understand the stages of compilation, to understand how to invoke it. These
20 The clang executable is actually a small driver which controls the overall
21 execution of other tools such as the compiler, assembler and linker.
22 Typically you do not need to interact with the driver, but you
23 transparently use it to run the other tools.
26 This stage handles tokenization of the input source file, macro expansion,
27 #include expansion and handling of other preprocessor directives. The
28 output of this stage is typically called a ".i" (for C), ".ii" (for C++),
29 ".mi" (for Objective-C), or ".mii" (for Objective-C++) file.
31 Parsing and Semantic Analysis
32 This stage parses the input file, translating preprocessor tokens into a
33 parse tree. Once in the form of a parse tree, it applies semantic
34 analysis to compute types for expressions as well and determine whether
35 the code is well formed. This stage is responsible for generating most of
36 the compiler warnings as well as parse errors. The output of this stage is
37 an "Abstract Syntax Tree" (AST).
39 Code Generation and Optimization
40 This stage translates an AST into low-level intermediate code (known as
41 "LLVM IR") and ultimately to machine code. This phase is responsible for
42 optimizing the generated code and handling target-specific code generation.
43 The output of this stage is typically called a ".s" file or "assembly" file.
45 Clang also supports the use of an integrated assembler, in which the code
46 generator produces object files directly. This avoids the overhead of
47 generating the ".s" file and of calling the target assembler.
50 This stage runs the target assembler to translate the output of the
51 compiler into a target object file. The output of this stage is typically
52 called a ".o" file or "object" file.
55 This stage runs the target linker to merge multiple object files into an
56 executable or dynamic library. The output of this stage is typically called
57 an "a.out", ".dylib" or ".so" file.
59 :program:`Clang Static Analyzer`
61 The Clang Static Analyzer is a tool that scans source code to try to find bugs
62 through code analysis. This tool uses many parts of Clang and is built into
63 the same driver. Please see <https://clang-analyzer.llvm.org> for more details
64 on how to use the static analyzer.
69 Stage Selection Options
70 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
74 Run the preprocessor stage.
76 .. option:: -fsyntax-only
78 Run the preprocessor, parser and semantic analysis stages.
82 Run the previous stages as well as LLVM generation and optimization stages
83 and target-specific code generation, producing an assembly file.
87 Run all of the above, plus the assembler, generating a target ".o" object file.
89 .. option:: no stage selection option
91 If no stage selection option is specified, all stages above are run, and the
92 linker is run to combine the results into an executable or shared library.
94 Language Selection and Mode Options
95 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
97 .. option:: -x <language>
99 Treat subsequent input files as having type language.
101 .. option:: -std=<standard>
103 Specify the language standard to compile for.
105 Supported values for the C language are:
115 ISO C 1990 with amendment 1
120 ISO C 1990 with GNU extensions
129 ISO C 1999 with GNU extensions
138 ISO C 2011 with GNU extensions
147 ISO C 2017 with GNU extensions
149 The default C language standard is ``gnu17``, except on PS4, where it is
152 Supported values for the C++ language are:
157 ISO C++ 1998 with amendments
162 ISO C++ 1998 with amendments and GNU extensions
166 ISO C++ 2011 with amendments
170 ISO C++ 2011 with amendments and GNU extensions
174 ISO C++ 2014 with amendments
178 ISO C++ 2014 with amendments and GNU extensions
182 ISO C++ 2017 with amendments
186 ISO C++ 2017 with amendments and GNU extensions
190 ISO C++ 2020 with amendments
194 ISO C++ 2020 with amendments and GNU extensions
198 ISO C++ 2023 with amendments
202 ISO C++ 2023 with amendments and GNU extensions
206 Working draft for C++2c
210 Working draft for C++2c with GNU extensions
212 The default C++ language standard is ``gnu++17``.
214 Supported values for the OpenCL language are:
232 The default OpenCL language standard is ``cl1.0``.
234 Supported values for the CUDA language are:
240 .. option:: -stdlib=<library>
242 Specify the C++ standard library to use; supported options are libstdc++ and
243 libc++. If not specified, platform default will be used.
245 .. option:: -rtlib=<library>
247 Specify the compiler runtime library to use; supported options are libgcc and
248 compiler-rt. If not specified, platform default will be used.
254 .. option:: -ObjC, -ObjC++
256 Treat source input files as Objective-C and Object-C++ inputs respectively.
258 .. option:: -trigraphs
262 .. option:: -ffreestanding
264 Indicate that the file should be compiled for a freestanding, not a hosted,
265 environment. Note that it is assumed that a freestanding environment will
266 additionally provide `memcpy`, `memmove`, `memset` and `memcmp`
267 implementations, as these are needed for efficient codegen for many programs.
269 .. option:: -fno-builtin
271 Disable special handling and optimizations of well-known library functions,
272 like :c:func:`strlen` and :c:func:`malloc`.
274 .. option:: -fno-builtin-<function>
276 Disable special handling and optimizations for the specific library function.
277 For example, ``-fno-builtin-strlen`` removes any special handling for the
278 :c:func:`strlen` library function.
280 .. option:: -fno-builtin-std-<function>
282 Disable special handling and optimizations for the specific C++ standard
283 library function in namespace ``std``. For example,
284 ``-fno-builtin-std-move_if_noexcept`` removes any special handling for the
285 :cpp:func:`std::move_if_noexcept` library function.
287 For C standard library functions that the C++ standard library also provides
288 in namespace ``std``, use :option:`-fno-builtin-\<function\>` instead.
290 .. option:: -fmath-errno
292 Indicate that math functions should be treated as updating :c:data:`errno`.
294 .. option:: -fpascal-strings
296 Enable support for Pascal-style strings with "\\pfoo".
298 .. option:: -fms-extensions
300 Enable support for Microsoft extensions.
302 .. option:: -fmsc-version=
304 Set ``_MSC_VER``. When on Windows, this defaults to either the same value as
305 the currently installed version of cl.exe, or ``1933``. Not set otherwise.
307 .. option:: -fborland-extensions
309 Enable support for Borland extensions.
311 .. option:: -fwritable-strings
313 Make all string literals default to writable. This disables uniquing of
314 strings and other optimizations.
316 .. option:: -flax-vector-conversions, -flax-vector-conversions=<kind>, -fno-lax-vector-conversions
318 Allow loose type checking rules for implicit vector conversions.
319 Possible values of <kind>:
321 - ``none``: allow no implicit conversions between vectors
322 - ``integer``: allow implicit bitcasts between integer vectors of the same
324 - ``all``: allow implicit bitcasts between any vectors of the same
327 <kind> defaults to ``integer`` if unspecified.
331 Enable the "Blocks" language feature.
333 .. option:: -fobjc-abi-version=version
335 Select the Objective-C ABI version to use. Available versions are 1 (legacy
336 "fragile" ABI), 2 (non-fragile ABI 1), and 3 (non-fragile ABI 2).
338 .. option:: -fobjc-nonfragile-abi-version=<version>
340 Select the Objective-C non-fragile ABI version to use by default. This will
341 only be used as the Objective-C ABI when the non-fragile ABI is enabled
342 (either via :option:`-fobjc-nonfragile-abi`, or because it is the platform
345 .. option:: -fobjc-nonfragile-abi, -fno-objc-nonfragile-abi
347 Enable use of the Objective-C non-fragile ABI. On platforms for which this is
348 the default ABI, it can be disabled with :option:`-fno-objc-nonfragile-abi`.
350 Target Selection Options
351 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
353 Clang fully supports cross compilation as an inherent part of its design.
354 Depending on how your version of Clang is configured, it may have support for a
355 number of cross compilers, or may only support a native target.
357 .. option:: -arch <architecture>
359 Specify the architecture to build for (Mac OS X specific).
361 .. option:: -target <architecture>
363 Specify the architecture to build for (all platforms).
365 .. option:: -mmacos-version-min=<version>
367 When building for macOS, specify the minimum version supported by your
370 .. option:: -miphoneos-version-min
372 When building for iPhone OS, specify the minimum version supported by your
375 .. option:: --print-supported-cpus
377 Print out a list of supported processors for the given target (specified
378 through ``--target=<architecture>`` or :option:`-arch` ``<architecture>``). If no
379 target is specified, the system default target will be used.
381 .. option:: -mcpu=?, -mtune=?
383 Acts as an alias for :option:`--print-supported-cpus`.
385 .. option:: -mcpu=help, -mtune=help
387 Acts as an alias for :option:`--print-supported-cpus`.
389 .. option:: -march=<cpu>
391 Specify that Clang should generate code for a specific processor family
392 member and later. For example, if you specify -march=i486, the compiler is
393 allowed to generate instructions that are valid on i486 and later processors,
394 but which may not exist on earlier ones.
396 .. option:: --print-enabled-extensions
398 Prints the list of extensions that are enabled for the target specified by the
399 combination of `--target`, `-march`, and `-mcpu` values. Currently, this
400 option is only supported on AArch64 and RISC-V. On RISC-V, this option also
401 prints out the ISA string of enabled extensions.
403 .. option:: --print-supported-extensions
405 Prints the list of all extensions that are supported for every CPU target
406 for an architecture (specified through ``--target=<architecture>`` or
407 :option:`-arch` ``<architecture>``). If no target is specified, the system
408 default target will be used. Currently, this option is only supported on
411 Code Generation Options
412 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
414 .. option:: -O0, -O1, -O2, -O3, -Ofast, -Os, -Oz, -Og, -O, -O4
416 Specify which optimization level to use:
418 :option:`-O0` Means "no optimization": this level compiles the fastest and
419 generates the most debuggable code.
421 :option:`-O1` Somewhere between :option:`-O0` and :option:`-O2`.
423 :option:`-O2` Moderate level of optimization which enables most
426 :option:`-O3` Like :option:`-O2`, except that it enables optimizations that
427 take longer to perform or that may generate larger code (in an attempt to
428 make the program run faster).
430 :option:`-Ofast` Enables all the optimizations from :option:`-O3` along
431 with other aggressive optimizations that may violate strict compliance with
432 language standards. This is deprecated in Clang 19 and a warning is emitted
433 that :option:`-O3` in combination with :option:`-ffast-math` should be used
434 instead if the request for non-standard math behavior is intended. There
435 is no timeline yet for removal; the aim is to discourage use of
436 :option:`-Ofast` due to the surprising behavior of an optimization flag
437 changing the observable behavior of correct code.
439 :option:`-Os` Like :option:`-O2` with extra optimizations to reduce code
442 :option:`-Oz` Like :option:`-Os` (and thus :option:`-O2`), but reduces code
445 :option:`-Og` Like :option:`-O1`. In future versions, this option might
446 disable different optimizations in order to improve debuggability.
448 :option:`-O` Equivalent to :option:`-O1`.
450 :option:`-O4` and higher
452 Currently equivalent to :option:`-O3`
454 .. option:: -g, -gline-tables-only, -gmodules
456 Control debug information output. Note that Clang debug information works
457 best at :option:`-O0`. When more than one option starting with `-g` is
458 specified, the last one wins:
460 :option:`-g` Generate debug information.
462 :option:`-gline-tables-only` Generate only line table debug information. This
463 allows for symbolicated backtraces with inlining information, but does not
464 include any information about variables, their locations or types.
466 :option:`-gmodules` Generate debug information that contains external
467 references to types defined in Clang modules or precompiled headers instead
468 of emitting redundant debug type information into every object file. This
469 option transparently switches the Clang module format to object file
470 containers that hold the Clang module together with the debug information.
471 When compiling a program that uses Clang modules or precompiled headers,
472 this option produces complete debug information with faster compile
473 times and much smaller object files.
475 This option should not be used when building static libraries for
476 distribution to other machines because the debug info will contain
477 references to the module cache on the machine the object files in the
478 library were built on.
480 .. option:: -fstandalone-debug -fno-standalone-debug
482 Clang supports a number of optimizations to reduce the size of debug
483 information in the binary. They work based on the assumption that the
484 debug type information can be spread out over multiple compilation units.
485 For instance, Clang will not emit type definitions for types that are not
486 needed by a module and could be replaced with a forward declaration.
487 Further, Clang will only emit type info for a dynamic C++ class in the
488 module that contains the vtable for the class.
490 The :option:`-fstandalone-debug` option turns off these optimizations.
491 This is useful when working with 3rd-party libraries that don't come with
492 debug information. This is the default on Darwin. Note that Clang will
493 never emit type information for types that are not referenced at all by the
496 .. option:: -feliminate-unused-debug-types
498 By default, Clang does not emit type information for types that are defined
499 but not used in a program. To retain the debug info for these unused types,
500 the negation **-fno-eliminate-unused-debug-types** can be used.
502 .. option:: -fexceptions
504 Allow exceptions to be thrown through Clang compiled stack frames (on many
505 targets, this will enable unwind information for functions that might have
506 an exception thrown through them). For most targets, this is enabled by
511 Generate code to catch integer overflow errors. Signed integer overflow is
512 undefined in C. With this flag, extra code is generated to detect this and
513 abort when it happens.
515 .. option:: -fvisibility
517 This flag sets the default visibility level.
519 .. option:: -fcommon, -fno-common
521 This flag specifies that variables without initializers get common linkage.
522 It can be disabled with :option:`-fno-common`.
524 .. option:: -ftls-model=<model>
526 Set the default thread-local storage (TLS) model to use for thread-local
527 variables. Valid values are: "global-dynamic", "local-dynamic",
528 "initial-exec" and "local-exec". The default is "global-dynamic". The default
529 model can be overridden with the tls_model attribute. The compiler will try
530 to choose a more efficient model if possible.
532 .. option:: -flto, -flto=full, -flto=thin, -emit-llvm
534 Generate output files in LLVM formats, suitable for link time optimization.
535 When used with :option:`-S` this generates LLVM intermediate language
536 assembly files, otherwise this generates LLVM bitcode format object files
537 (which may be passed to the linker depending on the stage selection options).
539 The default for :option:`-flto` is "full", in which the
540 LLVM bitcode is suitable for monolithic Link Time Optimization (LTO), where
541 the linker merges all such modules into a single combined module for
542 optimization. With "thin", :doc:`ThinLTO <../ThinLTO>`
543 compilation is invoked instead.
547 On Darwin, when using :option:`-flto` along with :option:`-g` and
548 compiling and linking in separate steps, you also need to pass
549 ``-Wl,-object_path_lto,<lto-filename>.o`` at the linking step to instruct the
550 ld64 linker not to delete the temporary object file generated during Link
551 Time Optimization (this flag is automatically passed to the linker by Clang
552 if compilation and linking are done in a single step). This allows debugging
553 the executable as well as generating the ``.dSYM`` bundle using :manpage:`dsymutil(1)`.
560 Print (but do not run) the commands to run for this compilation.
564 Display available options.
566 .. option:: -Qunused-arguments
568 Do not emit any warnings for unused driver arguments.
570 .. option:: -Wa,<args>
572 Pass the comma separated arguments in args to the assembler.
574 .. option:: -Wl,<args>
576 Pass the comma separated arguments in args to the linker.
578 .. option:: -Wp,<args>
580 Pass the comma separated arguments in args to the preprocessor.
582 .. option:: -Xanalyzer <arg>
584 Pass arg to the static analyzer.
586 .. option:: -Xassembler <arg>
588 Pass arg to the assembler.
590 .. option:: -Xlinker <arg>
592 Pass arg to the linker.
594 .. option:: -Xpreprocessor <arg>
596 Pass arg to the preprocessor.
598 .. option:: -o <file>
600 Write output to file.
602 .. option:: -print-file-name=<file>
604 Print the full library path of file.
606 .. option:: -print-libgcc-file-name
608 Print the library path for the currently used compiler runtime library
609 ("libgcc.a" or "libclang_rt.builtins.*.a").
611 .. option:: -print-prog-name=<name>
613 Print the full program path of name.
615 .. option:: -print-search-dirs
617 Print the paths used for finding libraries and programs.
619 .. option:: -save-temps
621 Save intermediate compilation results.
623 .. option:: -save-stats, -save-stats=cwd, -save-stats=obj
625 Save internal code generation (LLVM) statistics to a file in the current
626 directory (:option:`-save-stats`/"-save-stats=cwd") or the directory
627 of the output file ("-save-state=obj").
629 You can also use environment variables to control the statistics reporting.
630 Setting ``CC_PRINT_INTERNAL_STAT`` to ``1`` enables the feature, the report
631 goes to stdout in JSON format.
633 Setting ``CC_PRINT_INTERNAL_STAT_FILE`` to a file path makes it report
634 statistics to the given file in the JSON format.
636 Note that ``-save-stats`` take precedence over ``CC_PRINT_INTERNAL_STAT``
637 and ``CC_PRINT_INTERNAL_STAT_FILE``.
639 .. option:: -integrated-as, -no-integrated-as
641 Used to enable and disable, respectively, the use of the integrated
642 assembler. Whether the integrated assembler is on by default is target
647 Time individual commands.
649 .. option:: -ftime-report
651 Print timing summary of each stage of compilation.
655 Show commands to run and use verbose output.
661 .. option:: -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
663 These options control how Clang prints out information about diagnostics
664 (errors and warnings). Please see the Clang User's Manual for more information.
669 .. option:: -D<macroname>=<value>
671 Adds an implicit #define into the predefines buffer which is read before the
672 source file is preprocessed.
674 .. option:: -U<macroname>
676 Adds an implicit #undef into the predefines buffer which is read before the
677 source file is preprocessed.
679 .. option:: -include <filename>
681 Adds an implicit #include into the predefines buffer which is read before the
682 source file is preprocessed.
684 .. option:: -I<directory>
686 Add the specified directory to the search path for include files.
688 .. option:: -F<directory>
690 Add the specified directory to the search path for framework include files.
692 .. option:: -nostdinc
694 Do not search the standard system directories or compiler builtin directories
697 .. option:: -nostdlibinc
699 Do not search the standard system directories for include files, but do
700 search compiler builtin include directories.
702 .. option:: -nobuiltininc
704 Do not search clang's builtin directory for include files.
706 .. option:: -nostdinc++
708 Do not search the system C++ standard library directory for include files.
710 .. option:: -fkeep-system-includes
712 Usable only with :option:`-E`. Do not copy the preprocessed content of
713 "system" headers to the output; instead, preserve the #include directive.
714 This can greatly reduce the volume of text produced by :option:`-E` which
715 can be helpful when trying to produce a "small" reproduceable test case.
717 This option does not guarantee reproduceability, however. If the including
718 source defines preprocessor symbols that influence the behavior of system
719 headers (for example, ``_XOPEN_SOURCE``) the operation of :option:`-E` will
720 remove that definition and thus can change the semantics of the included
721 header. Also, using a different version of the system headers (especially a
722 different version of the STL) may result in different behavior. Always verify
723 the preprocessed file by compiling it separately.
729 .. envvar:: TMPDIR, TEMP, TMP
731 These environment variables are checked, in order, for the location to write
732 temporary files used during the compilation process.
736 If this environment variable is present, it is treated as a delimited list of
737 paths to be added to the default system include path list. The delimiter is
738 the platform dependent delimiter, as used in the PATH environment variable.
740 Empty components in the environment variable are ignored.
742 .. envvar:: C_INCLUDE_PATH, OBJC_INCLUDE_PATH, CPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH, OBJCPLUS_INCLUDE_PATH
744 These environment variables specify additional paths, as for :envvar:`CPATH`, which are
745 only used when processing the appropriate language.
747 .. envvar:: MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
749 If :option:`-mmacos-version-min` is unspecified, the default deployment
750 target is read from this environment variable. This option only affects
756 To report bugs, please visit <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/>. Most bug reports should
757 include preprocessed source files (use the :option:`-E` option) and the full
758 output of the compiler, along with information to reproduce.
763 :manpage:`as(1)`, :manpage:`ld(1)`