On 24/02/2021 20:24, Alex K via Gcc-help wrote: > Hello, > > I wanted to try the C compiler -- just the compiler, no libraries or IDEs. > The latest TAR expands for hours and has a lot of stuff I do not need. > > I want a tool which I can use on command line, provide some options and get the EXE file. > Is this available? > gcc /is/ basically just the compiler. But if you download the tarball from the gcc website, you get the source code for the entire compiler collection - including support for multiple languages (not just C), and language support libraries. It's a big, complex piece of software, and you won't be able to use it until you have compiled it. (But it has no IDE, debugger, or other tools.) You don't want "just the compiler" anyway - because that is not sufficient for producing executables. You /need/ key libraries, as well as an assembler and a linker, at a minimum. If you are using a Linux (or other *nix) system, your distribution will have all you need - something like "apt-get install build-essential" will get you the compiler. For Windows, I recommend installing the msys2 system. It has a lot more than just the compiler, but I find it all very useful. Different people have different needs and tastes, however. mingw-64 is probably more compact if you are short on disk space or bandwidth. However, the best way to try out gcc (or other compilers) is probably by using an online compiler. I can thoroughly recommend the excellent <https://godbolt.org> site - I use it regularly myself.
