Tiny C Compiler

C Scripting Everywhere - The Smallest ANSI C compiler

Note

This in an ongoing modernization over the original README.
This distribution of tinycc is tracking (more or less) https://repo.or.cz/tinycc.git

Features

• SMALL! You can compile and execute C code everywhere, for example on rescue disks.

• FAST! tcc generates optimized x86 code. No byte code overhead. Compile, assemble and link about 7 times faster than gcc -O0.

• UNLIMITED! Any C dynamic library can be used directly. TCC is heading toward full ISOC99 compliance. TCC can of course compile itself.

• SAFE! tcc includes an optional memory and bound checker. Bound checked code can be mixed freely with standard code.

• Compile and execute C source directly. No linking or assembly necessary. Full C preprocessor included.

• C script supported : just add #!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run at the first line of your C source, and execute it directly from the command line.

Documentation

Installation on a i386/x86_64/arm/aarch64/riscv64

Linux/macOS/FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD hosts.

./configure
make
make test
make install

Alternatively, meson is also supported:

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir
meson install -C builddir

Note

For FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD, gmake should be used instead of make.
For Windows read tcc-win32.txt.

makeinfo must be installed to compile the doc.
By default, tcc is installed in /usr/local/bin.

./configure --help shows configuration options.

Introduction

We assume here that you know ANSI C. Look at the example ex1.c to know what the programs look like.

The include file <tcclib.h> can be used if you want a small basic libc include support (especially useful for floppy disks).
Of course, you can also use standard headers, although they are slower to compile.

You can begin your C script with #!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run on the first line and set its execute bits (chmod a+x your_script). Then, you can launch the C code as a shell or perl script :-)
The command line arguments are put in argc and argv of the main functions, as in ANSI C.

Examples

• ex1.c: simplest example (hello world). Can also be launched directly as a script: ./ex1.c.
• ex2.c: more complicated example: find a number with the four operations given a list of numbers (benchmark).
• ex3.c: compute fibonacci numbers (benchmark).
• ex4.c: more complicated: X11 program.
  Very complicated test in fact because standard headers are being used!
  As for ex1.c, can also be launched directly as a script: ./ex4.c.
• ex5.c: 'hello world' with standard glibc headers.
• tcc.c: TCC can of course compile itself. Used to check the code generator.
• tcctest.c: auto test for TCC which tests many subtle possible bugs. Used when doing make test.

Full Documentation

Please read tcc-doc.html to have all the features of TCC.

Additional information is available for the Windows port in tcc-win32.txt.

License

TCC is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
There is a relicensing process ongoing.

Fabrice Bellard & the other contributors.