[SOLVED] GCC returns error, even though the code works.

Question

# Edit: 0740 // 7.1.14
# Thanks to Hurricane for his answer.
# If you came here with the same question, simply replace 'gcc' with 'g++'.
# Many thanks to all who answered.
I'm new to arch but have used GCC on windows before. I decided to try a simple hello world program (~/code/hello.cpp) but when I went to make an executable, I get the following error:
[simple@arch ~]$ gcc ~/code/hello.cpp -o ~/code/exe/hello
/tmp/ccUO8tkq.o: In function `main':
hello.cpp:(.text+0xa): undefined reference to `std::cout'
hello.cpp:(.text+0xf): undefined reference to `std::basic_ostream<char, std::char_traits<char> >& std::operator<< <std::char_traits<char> >(std::basic_ostream<char, std::char_traits<char> >&, char const*)'
hello.cpp:(.text+0x14): undefined reference to `std::basic_ostream<char, std::char_traits<char> >& std::endl<char, std::char_traits<char> >(std::basic_ostream<char, std::char_traits<char> >&)'
hello.cpp:(.text+0x1c): undefined reference to `std::ostream::operator<<(std::ostream& (*)(std::ostream&))'
/tmp/ccUO8tkq.o: In function `__static_initialization_and_destruction_0(int, int)':
hello.cpp:(.text+0x4a): undefined reference to `std::ios_base::Init::Init()'
hello.cpp:(.text+0x59): undefined reference to `std::ios_base::Init::~Init()'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
For reference, here is the code in hello.cpp
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
cout << "Hello world!" << endl;
return 0;
I've tried to make sense of the error, but I don't understand it.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Last edited by simplesquare (2014-01-05 12:41:55)

Answer 1

g++ ~/code/hello.cpp -o ~/code/exe/hello
That should do the trick.
GCC is just a front-end that chooses the right compiler depending on the suffix of the file(s) being passed in.
The problem with using GCC to compile a C++ program is that it' won't link C++ by default. If you noticed,
what returned the error was ld, which is the GNU linker.