Mac OS X: Install GCC Compiler with Xcode

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I have Mac OS X Mountain Lion. I need to compile a few apps and Perl modules. I already installed Xcode from app store but I’m unable to find gcc compiler or make command. How do I install gcc on Mac OS X 10.8.x?

Xcode includes command line development tools such as gcc and friends.

Step #1: Install Xcode on a Apple Mac OS X

First, make sure Xcode is installed. If it is not installed on OS X, visit app store and install Xcode.

Fig.01: Make sure Xcode developer tools are install OS X
Fig.01: Make sure Xcode developer tools are install OS X

Step #2: Install gcc/LLVM compiler on OS X

Once installed, open Xcode and visit:

Xcode menu > Preferences > Downloads > choose "Command line tools" > Click "Install" button:

Fig.02: Installing gcc compiler on Mac OS X
Fig.02: Installing gcc compiler on Mac OS X

Xcode will download package and install copies of the core command line tools and system headers into system folders, including the LLVM compiler, linker, and build tools.

Step #3: Verification

Open a terminal app and type the following commands:
$ gcc --version
$ whereis gcc
$ whereis make
Sample outputs:

Fig.03: Verify gcc compiler installation on Mountain Lion OS X

Testing sample “Hello world” C program

Create a text file called a.c as follows using a text editor such as vi or cat command:

/* a.c - demo for os x */
#include<stdio.h>
int main(void){
 printf("Hello world\n");
 return 0;
}

To compile, enter:
$ make a
Run it as follows:
$ ./a
Sample outputs:

Fig.04: Compiling and running sample
Fig.04: Compiling and running sample “Hello world” C program on Mountain Lion 10.8.4

See also

And, there you have it, the gcc version 4.2.1 installed and working correctly on the latest version of Mac OS X 10.8.4. In Apple’s version of GCC, both cc and gcc are actually symbolic links to the llvm-gcc compiler. Similarly, c++ and g++ are links to llvm-g++. For more information and examples see the following man pages:

$ man gcc
$ man make

This entry is 5 of 13 in the Linux GNU/GCC Compilers Tutorial series. Keep reading the rest of the series:
  1. Ubuntu Linux Install GNU GCC Compiler and Development Environment
  2. Debian Linux Install GNU GCC Compiler and Development Environment
  3. CentOS / RHEL 7: Install GCC (C and C++ Compiler) and Development Tools
  4. Download and Install C, C++ Compiler on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL)
  5. Mac OS X: Install GCC Compiler with Xcode
  6. Where is My Linux GNU C or GCC Compilers Are Installed?
  7. HowTo: Compile And Run a C/C++ Code In Linux
  8. RHEL / CentOS Linux Install Core Development Tools Automake, Gcc (C/C++), Perl, Python & Debuggers
  9. HowTo Compiling C Program And Creating Executable File Under a Linux / UNIX / *BSD
  10. How To Install ncurses Library on a Linux
  11. Linux Find Out What Compilers Are Installed or Available On The System
  12. Linux Find Out GNU gcc Compiler Version Used To Compile Running Kernel
  13. Howto see output of C program in Linux or UNIX

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

28 comment

  1. There is no need to install huge xcode consumes gigabytes of disk space (if you are not a apple developer), just go to the apple’s developer page and download the “command line tool for xcode” package and install it, that would be just sufficient.

  2. Isn’t GCC is LLVM with GCC support and many automake, m4 etc… project is not enable to build.

  6. I installed the Xcode Command Line Tools, and when I try to find gcc in the terminal
    tell me this:

    new-host:~ asaffeldman$ $gcc –version
    -bash: –version: command not found

    ?? help

  9. I have GCC 4.8.1 with x86, x86_64 and PPC on Lion with ObjC, C/C++11, Fortan, Ada Go support.
    And now I can compile PHP, WxWidgets, QT and many other source without problems like on Apple Clang vesion. In xcode too.
    Gcc builded with llvm-gcc-4.2.

  10. i m doing the c programming on terminal my keyword is not highlited by compiler,
    strstr function is not working why plz resolve my problm

  11. hi
    when I typed make a I got this message:
    make: *** No rule to make target `a’. Stop.

    please help me.
    Thanks.

  12. Hi , I installed xcode and command line tools just as you said but when I try the command gcc –version I get this error
    Error: could not stat active Xcode path ‘/Volumes/Xcode/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer’. (No such file or directory)

    Is my xCode in the wrong place? It’s installed and under Applications, please help

  13. Ld /Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Products/Debug/Production\ rates normal x86_64
    cd "/Users/shubhamjain/Documents/Xcode/Production rates"
    export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.9
    /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/clang++ -arch x86_64 -isysroot /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.9.sdk -L/Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Products/Debug -F/Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Products/Debug -filelist /Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Intermediates/Production\ rates.build/Debug/Production\ rates.build/Objects-normal/x86_64/Production\ rates.LinkFileList -mmacosx-version-min=10.9 -stdlib=libc++ -Xlinker -dependency_info -Xlinker /Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Intermediates/Production\ rates.build/Debug/Production\ rates.build/Objects-normal/x86_64/Production\ rates_dependency_info.dat -o /Users/shubhamjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Production_rates-eqoyfionzpuxskflgywwzthhilri/Build/Products/Debug/Production\ rates

Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
  "_main", referenced from:
     implicit entry/start for main executable
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)

    I AM GETTING THIS ERROR IN XCODE WHILE I AM BUILDING A PROGRAM IN C++

  15. Configured with: --prefix=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.2.1
Apple LLVM version 6.0 (clang-600.0.51) (based on LLVM 3.5svn)
Target: x86_64-apple-darwin13.4.0
Thread model: posix

  16. I have xcode. I see gcc on my mac: Macintosh/Developer/usr/bin/gcc-4.0
    But as soon as I type gcc whatever in the terminal because I want to compile a file called hpgl2eagle1.c to be able to use it, it outputs an error: gcc command not found.

  20. Please help

    i have the x-code and when i typed gcc –version it gave
    ‘Configured with: –prefix=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr –with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.2.1
    Apple LLVM version 7.0.0 (clang-700.1.76)
    Target: x86_64-apple-darwin14.5.0
    Thread model: posix’
    and when i type ls -l /usr/bin/gcc
    ‘-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 14160 Sep 28 2014 /usr/bin/gcc’
    so i cant go beyond this. Can someone please help?

  22. After you type:
    /*
    $ where is make
    /usr/bin/make
    Manny -MBP:~ Manny$ []
    */
    the 3rd line comes out again….I would like to know what do you type next to start creating your source code?

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