A Tutorial for

C/C++ Programming on Linux

Shridhar Daithankar
September 5th, 2004
Page 1 of 18
Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................3
Starting C programming with Linux..................................................................................................................3
Basic Checks...............................................................................................................................................3
The first encounter.......................................................................................................................................
Summar!......................................................................................................................................................"
C#C$$ Compi%er................................................................................................................................................"
Command&%ine 'ptions................................................................................................................................"
Li(raries......................................................................................................................................................)
*sing %i(raries in programs....................................................................................................................)
T!pes of %i(raries...................................................................................................................................)
Creating a %i(rar!...................................................................................................................................8
Li(raries and running a program............................................................................................................8
The C#C$$ programming en+ironment......................................................................................................1,
-an pages for C ca%%s...........................................................................................................................1,
C#C$$ standard %i(rar! documentation................................................................................................1,
STL documentation..............................................................................................................................1,
.e(ugging.......................................................................................................................................................1,
Preparing and de(ugging the program........................................................................................................11
Breakpoints and +aria(%e +a%ues........................................................ ..................................... ...................1/
Changing +aria(%e +a%ues...........................................................................................................................13
0.B command reference...........................................................................................................................13
1hat do I miss from Tur(o C2........................................................................................................................13
3eaders......................................................................................................................................................13
dos.h.....................................................................................................................................................13
conio.h.................................................................................................................................................1
0raphics.....................................................................................................................................................1
1hats next2.....................................................................................................................................................1
4urther reading...........................................................................................................................................1
-ake....................................................................................................................................................1
5utoconf..............................................................................................................................................1
5utomake.............................................................................................................................................1"
6ersion Contro% S!stems......................................................................................................................1"
5%ternate 'perating S!stems......................................................................................................................1"
Contact information...................................................................................................................................1"
7ditors.............................................................................................................................................................1"
6i...............................................................................................................................................................18
Pico............................................................................................................................................................18
9oe..............................................................................................................................................................18
'thers........................................................................................................................................................18
5ppendix.........................................................................................................................................................1)
Brief 6i command reference......................................................................................................................1)
4i%e 3and%ing .......................................................................................................................................1)
7diting..................................................................................................................................................1)
:a+igation............................................................................................................................................1)
Buffer 3and%ing...................................................................................................................................1)
Setting 'ptions.....................................................................................................................................18
Search and rep%ace................................................................ .......................................... .....................18
Page / of 18
Introduction
I meet a %ot of computer students on PL*0;Pune Linux *sers 0roup<. In+aria(%! I find them using TC i.e.
Tur(o C for their C#C$$ programming assignments. 5t PL*0= we attempt to he%p them getting started with
C#C$$ programming on Linux and answer an! >ueries the! ha+e. This tutoria% is to he%p them getting started
on their own.
5 %ot of these students a%so te%% me that the! use TC (ecause their teachers insist on using it. 1e encourage
teachers as we%% as students to get awa! from TC as soon as and as far as possi(%e. This tutoria% is aimed at
teachers and students a%ike.
There are se+era% disad+antages of Tur(o C. The! %ead to programming practices which are not exact%!
(eneficia% when a student comp%etes his#her graduation and aspires to (e a software professiona%.

-ost Tur(o C insta%%ations uses a +ersion which is +er! o%d and#or incomp%ete. It %acks essentia% features
%ike namespaces and temp%ates in C$$. 3ence students practice their ski%%s on a p%atform which is %imited.
*sage Tur(o C promotes .'S programming paradigm which is o(so%ete on a%% practica% counts. Student
keep thinking that direct%! writing to 605 memor! is a (ig thing whi%e it is a comp%ete waste of efforts.
-ost Tur(o C insta%%ations %ack a comp%ete C %i(rar!. 3ence students are comp%ete%! unaware of some
+er! important features such as threading or %oca%i?ation. Tur(o C has a minima% C %i(rar! insta%%ed with
it= which is @ust enough for (asic programming.
TC (eing an I.7= students ne+er grasp the concept of pro@ect management. 4urthermore the assignments
in the course do not promote good pro@ect management practices. -an! students end up doing a%% their
assignments in a sing%e fi%e and conse>uent%! ne+er %earn to reuse the code. Some of the essentia% practices
students miss are=
*se of -akefi%es
*sage of 6ersion Contro% s!stems
Practice of modu%ari?ing the code in different fi%es#%i(raries etc.
Students are ne+er exposed to di+ersit!. The! think TC is C#C$$. 1hat the! do not understand is TC is
(ut one imp%ementation of C#C$$. There are se+era% others= each with itAs own strengths= weaknesses and
gotchas. The! %earn to think in terms of too%s rather than %anguage= theor! and pro(%em at hand. The %ack
of exposure to di+erse too%s keeps them from maturing rapid%!.
This tutoria% aims to he%p students and teachers enriching the %earning experience in a undergraduate course.
Though this tutoria% exp%ains C#C$$ on Linux= I wou%d encourage students to exp%ore usage other compi%ers
such a -icrosoft 6isua% C#C$$ and Inte% C#C$$.
I want to make it c%ear here that I am not going to i%%ustrate usage of an! I.7 on Linux in this tutoria%.
4o%%owing are the reasons that I can think of= top of m! head=
I think the! are eas! enough to figure out if !ou know an! other I.7 or (asic C#C$$ programming.
I intend to show how to use (asic C#C$$ usage. If I start with an I.7= it wi%% (e no different than TC.
Students wi%% think of AKdevelop as C#C$$A on which is no (etter than thinking ATC is C#C$$A
7xp%aining an I.7 in tota%it! is a (ig @o(. It cou%d take a (ook rather than a tutoria% to do it.
There cou%d (e more reasons (ut I think these are good enough to skip an I.7 right now.
Starting C programming with Linux
Basic Checks
To start programming on Linux= !ou need a Linux insta%%ation= which has de+e%opment packages insta%%ed. If
!ou are not fami%iar with Linux insta%%ation= I wou%d recommend getting he%p from friends#teachers or PL*0
mem(ers.
Page 3 of 18
4o%%owing examp%e i%%ustrates how to check existence of de+e%opment too%s. Bou shou%d get a simi%ar output.
5%% these commands were executed on m! home PC which runs S%ackware 1,.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ which gcc
/usr/bin/gcc
shridhar@darkstar:~$ which g++
/usr/bin/g++
shridhar@darkstar:~$ which make
/usr/bin/make
shridhar@darkstar:~$ which vi
/usr/bin/vi
shridhar@darkstar:~$ which pico
/usr/bin/pico
If !ou ha+e afore&mentioned too%s a+ai%a(%e= !ou are set to start. The %ast two= vi and pico are text editors.
Bou can do with an! text editor of !our choice. 3owe+er if !ou donAt know where to %ook for= a(o+e are two
+er! (asic choices. Persona%%!= I use kate which is (und%ed with C.7.
I ha+e put an entire section at the end of the document= i%%ustrating these editors= especia%%! vi. 4rom here= I
wi%% assume that !ou ha+e one editor a+ai%a(%e for writing code.
The first encounter
Let us write a sma%% program and compi%e it. Dun command pico from command %ine and t!pe in fo%%owing
code.
#include stdio!h"
int main#void$
%
print&#'(ello )orld*n$+
return#,$+
-
Press Ctrl./ to >uit. Pico wi%% ask to sa+e the fi%e. Press 0. It wi%% ask for fi%e name. Supp%! a name of !our
choice. I chose hello!c here.
Let us compi%e the code.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ gcc .o hello hello!c
shridhar@darkstar:~$ ls .la hello1
.rw2r.2r.2 3 shridhar users 3,456 7,,6.,8.79 ,5:,3 hello1
.rw.r..r.. 3 shridhar users 85 7,,6.,8.79 ,5:,3 hello!c
The first command compi%ed the fi%e hello!c to a executa(%e hello. There was no error or warning gi+en.
It means that e+er!thing went fine. This is *nix wa! of doing things.
3owe+er for peop%e from .'S#1indows (ackground= this cou%d (e confusing. So I issued an ls command=
which is simi%ar to dir command on .'S. This confirms that the executa(%e ca%%ed as hello was indeed
created.
Let us run the program.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ !/hello
(ello )orld
Page of 18
shridhar@darkstar:~$
3ere we run the program. There are se+era% things to note in a(o+e examp%e. 4irst of a%%= the current director!
A.A is inc%uded exp%icit%! in fi%e name. 'n *nix= the current director! is not necessari%! inc%uded in the path. So
running the executa(%e with fu%% path is recommended as a good porta(%e practice= e+en if !ou donAt ha+e to
do it on !our Linux insta%%ation.
Second%! the director! separator is A/A on Linux rather than A*A on .'S. If !ou are using Linux for some time=
I am sure !ou ha+e noticed it (! now. The reasons (ehind the difference are topic of a continuous de(ate
(etween 1indows#.'S and *nix users. Let us skip them for now.
Summary
3ere we ha+e %earnt se+era% things.
'n Linux= editing a fi%e and compi%ing are two different things.
The compi%er is a command %ine too% which has nothing to do with the wa! !ou create#edit source code.
The C compi%er on Linux is ca%%ed as gcc.
The director! separator on Linux is A/A instead of A*A.
C/C++ Compiler
The C compi%er on Linux is a part of compi%er suite= known as 0CC;0:* Compi%er Co%%ection<. This suite
offers compi%ers for se+era% %anguages. 4o%%owing is a %ist of t!pica% ones offered.
C
C$$
'(@ecti+e C
4ortran
The name of C compi%er program on Linux is gcc and C$$ compi%er is ca%%ed as g++. Bou can find out the
+ersion of the compi%er using :version option. This is the output produced on m! home machine.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ gcc ..version
gcc #;CC$ <!<!6
Cop=right #C$ 7,,< >ree ?o&tware >oundation@ Anc!
This is &ree so&tware+ see the source &or cop=ing conditions! There is
BC warrant=+ not even &or DEFC(GBTGHAIAT0 or >ATBE?? >CF G JGFTACKIGF
JKFJC?E!
Command-line Options
The command %ine options to the C#C$$ compi%er contro% their (eha+ior. There are %arge num(er of options
a+ai%a(%e. The compi%er documentation has the detai%ed exp%anation (ut I wi%% co+er the common%! used ones.
5 compi%er option is denoted (! A.A such as .s. This is different than .os#1indows where the options are
denoted (! A/A. In our first program= !ou can see that we ha+e a%read! made use of .o option.
:ote that these options are case&sensiti+e.
-c
This option instructs the compi%er to @ust compi%e the fi%e and produce an o(@ect fi%e= instead of creating a
program. Creating a program is the defau%t (eha+ior.
Page " of 18
This is t!pica%%! used when a program or a %i(rar! consist of more than one source fi%es and#or the sources
spread across mu%tip%e modu%es. The o(@ect fi%es produced has a !o extension rather than !obL as with
.os#1indows.
-o <name>
This option instructs the compi%er to produce the target with a specific name= o+erriding the defau%t name.
1hen a source is compi%ed into an o(@ect fi%e= the extension changes to !o e.g. 5 source fi%e hello!c wi%%
produce an o(@ect fi%e named hello!o. 3owe+er !ou can change the name of o(@ect fi%e using this option.
4o%%owing commands demonstrate this usage.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ gcc .c .o hello3!o hello!c
shridhar@darkstar:~$ ls .al hello3!o
.rw.r..r.. 3 shridhar users 566 7,,6.,9.,4 7,:<M hello3!o
If this option is not specified= the name of program produced is a%wa!s a!out. This is different than
.os#1indows where a source fi%e hello!c resu%ts into a program with name hello!e2e. 3ence on
Linux= this option is a%most a%wa!s used whi%e producing the program.
-O<n>
This option instructs compi%er to produce optimi?ed programs. 3ere n denotes the %e+e% of optimi?ation. This
is an optiona% argument. The %e+e% of optimi?ation range from 1 to 3. The most common%! used optimi?ation
%e+e% is /.
There are se+era% options that contro% specific optimi?ations. This option is a con+enient wa! of specif!ing a
group of most common%! used. -ore detai%s on these options are a+ai%a(%e in compi%er documentation.
-g
This options instructs compi%ers to produce a program with de(ug information inc%uded. *n%ess a program is
compi%ed with this option= it can not (e de(ugged.
If a program is created from more than one o(@ect fi%es= a%% of the o(@ect fi%es must (e compi%ed with this f%ag=
so that the entire program can (e de(ugged.
-s
This option instructs the compi%er to remo+e an! s!m(o% and o(@ect re%ocation information from the program.
This is used to reduce the si?e of program and runtime o+erhead.
Coup%ed with .C7= these options produced programs that are used in production. :ote that this option shou%d
not (e used in con@unction with .g as it remo+es the de(ugging information as we%%.
-I <directory name>
This option instructs compi%er to add the specified director! to inc%ude search path. Compi%er wi%% search in
director! when it is %ooking for header fi%es inc%uded (! the programs.
B! defau%t= the compi%er search in director! /usr/include and hence it need not (e specified. The
#include directi+e in source can take re%ati+e form. Let us sa! a program has a %ine such as fo%%ows.
#include s=s/socket!h"
Page 8 of 18
Then the compi%er wi%% match the fi%e /usr/include/s=s/socket!h. Compi%er wi%% attempt to find a
fi%e among a%% the inc%ude director! path specified (efore throwing an error.
4or C$$= /usr/include/c++/version" is the additiona% defau%t inc%ude director!= where standard
%i(rar! headers for C$$ are %ocated. 3ere +ersion is the compi%er +ersion. So on m! machine= it trans%ates to
the director! /usr/include/c++/<!<!6/.
-L <directory name>
This option instructs the compi%er to add the specified director! to %i(rar! search path. This option is actua%%!
used (! %inker. 3owe+er since %inker is in+oked +ia compi%er in most cases= this option is passed to the
compi%er. The compi%er passes it to the %inker.
B! defau%t compi%er searches the director! /usr/lib. I wi%% descri(e %i(raries in more detai%s %ater.
-l <library name>
This option instructs the compi%er to %ink against the specified %i(rar!. This option fo%%ows a specific naming
con+ention. The %i(rar! name specified does not inc%ude %i(rar! name suffix or prefix. 7.g. To %ink against a
%i(rar! libnurses!so= one has to specif! .lncurses since lib and !so are standard %i(rar!
suffix#prefix.
Libraries
5 %i(rar! is %ike a executa(%e program in that it contains the compi%ed code in machine specific assem(%!
%anguage. It differs from a program in that %i(raries are co%%ection of reusa(%e code. The! are no meant to (e
run %ike a norma% programs.
Using libraries in programs
To use %i(raries with a program= one needs corresponding header fi%es and %i(raries. The header fi%es are
inc%uded in code. The compi%er option .A= exp%ained a(o+e= te%%s compi%er where to find these specific
headers. The compi%er can o(tain function dec%arations from these header fi%es. 5fter compi%ation= the
compi%er produces o(@ect fi%es which has empt! s%ots for functions#s!m(o%s
1
dec%ared in %i(rar! header fi%es.
Later %inker fi%%s in these s%ots.
To produce a program= compi%er in+okes %inker with appropriate %inker directories and %i(raries. The %inker
puts a%% the o(@ect fi%es together in the fina% program. It creates a %ist of empt! s%ots from a%% the o(@ect fi%es.
Then it searches for these s!m(o%s in %i(raries specified. 4or each s!m(o% found in %i(raries = it marks the
%i(rar! as a dependenc!.
If it can not find a s!m(o% in an! of %i(raries specified= it throws a Knde&ined s=mbols error. It means
that the %inker cou%d not find an! %i(rar! which contains the s!m(o% definition. :ecessar! %i(raries need to (e
specified so as to get the program %inked successfu%%!.
Tpes of libraries
There are two t!pes of %i(raries= shared and static. The! differ in how the compi%ed code is reused (! the
programs.
1 Linker ca%%s function and +aria(%e dec%arations as s!m(o%s. It does not dea% with functions a%one and it is
not specific to a particu%ar %anguage such as C#C$$. It can %ink o(@ect fi%es produced (! an! %anguage as
%ong as the! are in specific format..
Page ) of 18
Static Li(raries
1hen a program is %inked against a static %i(rar!= the %inker copies the s!m(o% definition i.e. the code for
function imp%ementation into the resu%ting program. 3ence the program does not need the %i(rar! insta%%ed in
order to run. This resu%ts in a (igger program si?e at the cost of ease of insta%%ation. 4urthermore to take
ad+antage of newer +ersion of a %i(rar!= the program must (e recompi%ed and reinsta%%ed.
B! con+ention= static %i(raries has a lib prefix and !a extension. Thus a libm=prog!a is fi%e name for
%i(rar! m=prog. 1hi%e compi%ing#%inking= on%! the %i(rar! name is passed and not the comp%ete fi%e name as
%inker can %ocate the fi%e from the %i(rar! name.
Shared Li(raries
'n the other hand= whi%e %inking against a shared %i(rar!= the %inker marks the s!m(o%s in shared %i(rar! as
externa%. 1hi%e running the program= the runtime %inker searches through insta%%ed %i(raries for necessar!
%i(rar! and the re>uired s!m(o% definition in the %i(rar!. If either the %i(rar! or the necessar! s!m(o%
definition is not found= a runtime error is thrown and program execution is a(orted.
*sing shared %i(raries= the program si?e can (e kept to minimum. If more than one programs are using same
%i(rar!= on%! one cop! of %i(rar! is %oaded sa+ing memor! at the runtime. This is not possi(%e with static
%i(raries. If the insta%%ed %i(rar! is upgraded= a%% the programs depending upon it get the (enefit of newer
+ersion.
The standard prefix for shared %i(raries is lib and fi%e extension is !so. Thus a %i(rar! m=prog wi%% ha+e
the fi%e name libm=prog!so.
Creating a librar
Creating a shared %i(rar! is +er! simi%ar to creating a program. 'ne has to inc%ude appropriate headers and
specif! additiona% %i(raries for %inker. 5 shared %i(rar! can depend upon other shared %i(raries. In order to run
the program= a%% the dependent %i(raries are re>uired to (e insta%%ed.
3owe+er some additiona% f%ags need to (e passed to compi%er and %inker to create a shared %i(rar!. 'n Linux=
fo%%owing are the necessar! f%ag.
-fPIC
This option instructs the compi%er to generate position independent code. This is a necessar! option to create
an o(@ect fi%e that can (e put into shared %i(rar!. It pre+ents the compi%er from using the optimi?ations that are
dependent upon code#s!m(o% %ocation since these %ocations are not guaranteed in a shared %i(rar!.
-shared
This option is passed to %inker. Instead of creating a program the %inker creates a shared %i(rar!.
To create a static %i(rar!= one must produce a set of o(@ect fi%es and pass them to a uti%it! ca%%ed as ar.
Libraries and running a program
1hen a program is in+oked= a s!stem program ca%%ed as runtime %inker is run (efore running the user code.
This program is a %i(rar! and the compi%er %inks e+er! program against it. The compi%er creates necessar!
code so that this program is run (efore running an! of the user code.
The runtime %inker %oads the program %ike an! other norma% fi%e and reads a%% the dependencies marked (! the
Page 8 of 18
%inker.
Then it searches the re>uired %i(raries in the s!stem. 5 s!stem&wide configuration fi%e /etc/ld!so!con&=
%ists the directories searched (! the runtime %inker. 'nce it %ocates the necessar! %i(raries= it %oads them and
searches for the s!m(o% definitions that are marked as externa% in the program. In order to run the program=
the runtime %inker has to %ocate a%% the externa% s!m(o%s in the program.
The runtime %inker %oads the necessar! %i(raries in the programs address space and reca%cu%ates the address of
each s!m(o% in the shared %i(rar!. 5fter this step is comp%eted= the contro% is passed to the user code.
To find out the shared %i(rar! dependencies of a program= a uti%it! ca%%ed as ldd can (e used. 4or our first
examp%e= the dependencies are %isted as fo%%ows.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ ldd hello
libc!so!M N" /lib/libc!so!M #,26,,7d,,,$
/lib/ld.linu2!so!7 N" /lib/ld.linu2!so!7 #,26,,,,,,,$
5nother uti%it! ca%%ed as nm can (e used to %ist a%% the s!m(o%s in a program. 5gain= for our first examp%e
program= the %isting is as fo%%ows. :ote that the function printf is marked as A*A= which means that another
shared %i(rar! has to supp%! the imp%ementation of this function. The particu%ar shared %i(rar! is the standard
C %i(rar! libc!so in this case.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ nm hello
,5,69696 O PO0BGDAC
,5,6948, O P;ICHGIPC>>?ETPTGHIEP
,5,6568, F PACPstdinPused
w PQvPFegisterClasses
,5,694M, d PPCTCFPEBOPP
,5,6944c d PPCTCFPIA?TPP
,5,694M5 d PPOTCFPEBOPP
,5,694M6 d PPOTCFPIA?TPP
,5,6969, r PP>FGDEPEBOPP
,5,694Mc d PPQCFPEBOPP
,5,694Mc d PPQCFPIA?TPP
,5,69455 G PPbssPstart
,5,69656 O PPdataPstart
,5,6567, t PPdoPglobalPctorsPau2
,5,65<3, t PPdoPglobalPdtorsPau2
,5,69655 O PPdsoPhandle
,5,69656 G PP&iniParra=Pend
,5,69656 G PP&iniParra=Pstart
w PPgmonPstartPP
,5,69656 G PPinitParra=Pend
,5,69656 G PPinitParra=Pstart
,5,65<e, T PPlibcPcsuP&ini
,5,65<b, T PPlibcPcsuPinit
K PPlibcPstartPmain@@;IAHCP7!,
,5,69455 G Pedata
,5,6945c G Pend
,5,6564, T P&ini
,5,656Mc F P&pPhw
,5,65785 T Pinit
,5,657c, T Pstart
,5,657e6 t callPgmonPstart
,5,69455 b completed!3
Page E of 18
,5,69656 ) dataPstart
,5,65<4, t &ramePdumm=
,5,65<56 T main
,5,6965c d p!,
K print&@@;IAHCP7!,
The C/C++ programming environment
!an pages for C calls
P'SIF is a standard which specifies the programming ca%%s that a standard *nix operating s!stem must
pro+ide. These ca%%s are imp%emented either in kerne% or C standard %i(rar!. Linux is a P'SIF comp%iant 'S
and hence pro+ides a%% of these ca%%s.
In order to find out what these ca%%s are= I wou%d genera%%! recommend a (ook on *nix programming such as
one from Cernnighan and Ditchie. 3owe+er there is a simp%er reference to a%% these ca%%s that is insta%%ed on
each Linux s!stem .These are man;manua%< pages accessi(%e using man command.
5%% the manua% pages for programming ca%%s are %ocated in director! /usr/man/man7. These man pages
fo%%ow a specific naming standard. 5 t!pica% man page /usr/man/man7/unlink!7!gRmeans that it
documents a command ca%%ed as unlink in section / of the manua%. This section num(er is re>uired if two
sections contain man page with same name. In this case= the re>uired man command to (e issued on she%%
prompt wou%d (e Aman 7 unlinkA.
7+en though !ou can use the man command to +iew man pages= I wou%d recommend a 0*I +iewer such a
konSueror in C.7 since it can h!per%ink other man pages and source fi%e.
C/C++ standard librar documentation
The C#C$$ %i(raries on Linux are pro+ided (! the 0:* pro@ect. These %i(raries are de+e%oped a%ong with the
compi%er. .etai%ed documentation for these %i(raries are a+ai%a(%e from the respecti+e we(sites. The
necessar! *DLs are as fo%%ows.
0:* Li(c .ocumentation at httpG##www.gnu.org#software#%i(c#manua%#
C$$ standard %i(rar! documentation at httpG##gcc.gnu.org#on%inedocs#%i(stdc$$#documentation.htm%
%i(stdc$$ 45H at httpG##gcc.gnu.org#on%inedocs#%i(stdc$$#fa>#
STL documentation
STL is Standard Temp%ate Li(rar! which pro+ides man! usefu% containers and a%gorithms that can (e used in
C$$. The standard C$$ %i(rar! on Linux inc%udes an STL imp%ementation.
To use STL effecti+e%!= I recommend the STL documentation from S0I.
STL documentation from S0I at httpG##www.sgi.com#tech#st%#
"ebugging
1hen a program does not work as expected= one has to de(ug it. .e(ugging is a integra% part of software
de+e%opment. So to %earn to de+e%op programs on Linux= we need to %earn to de(ug them as we%%.
The most primiti+e techni>ue of de(ugging is to introduce p%ethora of print statements in the programs to
execute state of program at each stage. It certain%! work for some c%ass of pro(%ems. But it is no rep%acement
for a proper de(ugger.
Page 1, of 18
I wi%% co+er gdb in this chapter which is a command %ine de(ugger on Linux. 1hi%e there are 0*I front&ends
such as ... a+ai%a(%e for gdb= I wi%% co+er gdb on%! since it is the minimum re>uired for de(ugging. 5gain
no matter what Linux s!stem !ou encounter= !ou can count on gdb to (e a+ai%a(%e.
reparing and debugging the program
5 program can not (e de(ugged un%ess it contains de(ug information. Let us start with a fresh program to
demonstrate de(ugging.
T!pe fo%%owing program in a fi%e ca%%ed as print!c.
#include stdio!h"
int main#void$
%
int iN,+
print&#'The value o& i is Td*n'@i$+
return#,$+
-
Let us compi%e it for de(ugging and check itAs si?e.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ gcc .g .o print print!c
shridhar@darkstar:~$ ls .al print
.rw2r.2r.2 3 shridhar users 3455, 7,,6.,9.,4 7<:43 print1
shridhar@darkstar:~$
:otice the A.gA f%ag passed to compi%er. It instructs to add de(ugging information in the program. Let us run
the program.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ !/print
The value o& i is ,
It @ust runs %ike an! other program. The next step is de(ugging. 3ere is a gd( session which runs the program.
shridhar@darkstar:~$ gdb print
;BK gdb M!3!3
Cop=right 7,,6 >ree ?o&tware >oundation@ Anc!
;OH is &ree so&tware@ covered b= the ;BK ;eneral Jublic Iicense@ and =ou
are
welcome to change it and/or distribute copies o& it under certain
conditions!
T=pe 'show cop=ing' to see the conditions!
There is absolutel= no warrant= &or ;OH! T=pe 'show warrant=' &or
details!
This ;OH was con&igured as 'i65M.slackware.linu2'!!!Ksing host
libthreadPdb librar= '/lib/libthreadPdb!so!3'!
#gdb$ r
?tarting program: /home/shridhar/print
The value o& i is ,
Jrogram e2ited normall=!
Page 11 of 18
#gdb$ S
shridhar@darkstar:~$
The de(ugger accepts the name of program as the argument. Bou are dropped to a prompt where !ou can
enter the de(ugger commands. 3ere the command ArA runs the program and ASA >uits the de(ugger.
Breakpoints and variable values
Breakpoints a%%ow to ha%t program execution and gi+es contro% to the de(ugger. The programmers can inspect
and#or change +aria(%e +a%ues at (reak points.
4o%%owing session demonstrates these features of gd(.
#gdb$ b main
Hreakpoint 3 at ,25,65<96: &ile print!c@ line 4!
#gdb$ r
?tarting program: /home/shridhar/print
Hreakpoint 3@ main #$ at print!c:4
4 int iN,+
#gdb$ print i
$< N 3,8<57M,65
#gdb$ n
M print&#'The value o& i is Td*n'@i$+
#gdb$ print i
$6 N ,
#gdb$ n
The value o& i is ,
5 return#,$+
#gdb$ n
9 -
#gdb$ n
,26,,679<M in PPlibcPstartPmain #$ &rom /lib/libc!so!M
#gdb$ n
?ingle stepping until e2it &rom &unction PPlibcPstartPmain@
which has no line number in&ormation!
Jrogram e2ited normall=!
:ote that the user gets contro% at (reak point. The source %ine shown is the one which wi%% (e executed next.
3ence the +a%ue of i is random when printed first and it is set to ?ero after the statement is executed. The
command AnA is used to run one statement at a time. If the %ine contains a user defined function ca%%= then
command AsA steps into the function rather than treating the entire %ine as one step.
Break points can (e set in two wa!s. 'ne wa! is to specif! a function as we ha+e done here. 'ther wa! is t
specif! in form of &ilename:line number. This is how it is done.
#gdb$ b print!c:4
Hreakpoint 7 at ,25,65<96: &ile print!c@ line 4!
B! defau%t= gd( searches the source fi%es in current director!. Bou can te%% it to search specific directories
using dir command.
#gdb$ dir /home/shridhar
?ource directories searched: /home/shridhar:$cdir:$cwd
#gdb$ dir /mnt6/shridhar/Oownloads
?ource directories searched: /
Page 1/ of 18
mnt6/shridhar/Oownloads:/home/shridhar:$cdir:$cwd
:ote that each in+ocation of dir command adds the director! to the %ist of directories to (e searched= rather
than rep%acing it. *nfortunate%! gdb does not understand director! tree. So if !ou ha+e a mu%ti%e+e% source
tree= !ou can not @ust te%% gdb the top %e+e% director! and expect it to search entire tree. Bou need to specif!
each director! separate%!.
Changing variable values
Bou can change a +aria(%e +a%ue whi%e !ou are de(ugging. It a%%ows a de+e%oper to test a potentia% (ug fix
without recompi%ing the program. This is how it is done.
#gdb$ r
?tarting program: /home/shridhar/print
Hreakpoint 7@ main #$ at print!c:4
4 int iN,+
#gdb$ n
M print&#'The value o& i is Td*n'@i$+
#gdb$ print i
$4 N ,
#gdb$ set var iN3,
#gdb$ print i
$M N 3,
#gdb$ n
The value o& i is 3,
5 return#,$+
#gdb$ n
9 -
#gdb$ n
,26,,679<M in PPlibcPstartPmain #$ &rom /lib/libc!so!M
#gdb$
!"B command reference
#hat do I miss from Turbo C$
Linux and .os are two different operating s!stems. Tur(o C and 0CC are two different compi%ers.
Conse>uent%! not e+er!thing from .os#Tur(o C can (e used on Linux#0CC. This section %ists some of the
things missed most fre>uent%!.
#eaders
dos%h
This is a header in Tur(o C that pro+ides interrupt re%ated functions and entr! to .os kerne%. This header is
not a+ai%a(%e on Linux.
Linux does not a%%ow direct use of interrupts from user app%ication programs. *n%ike .os= Linux is a mu%ti&
user mu%ti&tasking 'S which pro+ides standard IPC ;interprocess communication< and other 5PIs.
Linux can do a%% the things pro+ided (! this header and much more. 3owe+er the s!ntax and 5PIs are
drastica%%! different. If !ou ha+e an! programs that re%! on this header= !ou need to rewrite them in Linux.
Page 13 of 18
conio%h
This header fi%e in Tur(o C pro+ides functions that can manipu%ate screen and cursor. 'n Linux= one needs to
use a %i(rar! ca%%ed as ncurses to achie+e simi%ar effects. The discussion of porting to ncurses is out of
scope of this tutoria%.
!raphics
Tur(o C pro+ides a simp%e graphics programming 5PI that can hand%e 605 graphics and pro+ide %ow %e+e%
routines for graphics manipu%ation.
'n Linux= a %i(rar! ca%%ed as S605Li( is a+ai%a(%e for simi%ar effects. 3owe+er this %i(rar! is discontinued in
fa+or of other options. .irect frame (uffer rendering is another option a+ai%a(%e.
3owe+er it is strong%! recommended that instead of using an! of these options= one direct%! use F and higher
%e+e% too%kits such as 0TC#Ht#4LTC. The discussion of F and an! of these too%kits is (e!ond the scope of
this document. There is p%ent! of materia% a+ai%a(%e on internet for these topics.
#hats next$
$urther reading
This document touches on man! issues (ut can not co+er them in detai%. I recommend that the reader pursue
fo%%owing su(@ects as we%%. These are important too%s for de+e%oping professiona% and %arge sca%e software
app%ications. I wi%% pro+ide a (rief description of each of these.
!a&e
Dake is a program to maintain a pro@ect (ui%d in a consistent state. It reads the pro@ect description in form of
dependencies of sources and targets. In context of programming= sources fi%es are source and programs are
targets. 3owe+er the definition of sources and targets is pro+ided (! app%ication de+e%oper. 3ence Dake can
(e used in +ariet! of creati+e wa!s.
The source target dependenc! description is pro+ided in a fi%e ca%%ed as -akefi%e. The Dake documentation
co+ers the format of -akefi%es.
Based on timestamps of each sources and target= it determines the targets that needs to (e updated. It updates
on%! those targets that are o%der than corresponding sources.
5 source can (e a source fi%e or another target e.g. 5n o(@ect fi%e can (e source for a program though it is not
a source fi%e. -ake can nest the dependencies so a%% the dependent targets are re(ui%t. In this examp%e= if the
source fi%e is updated= it causes the o(@ect fi%e to (e re(ui%t and hence the program that depends upon the
o(@ect fi%e.
;BK Dake is insta%%ed on most Linux s!stems. It pro+ides some extensions o+er traditiona% *nix Dake.
There are some other programs that pro+ide simi%ar functiona%it!. Qam from Perforce Inc. and scons/cons
are two such programs.
Autoconf
5utoconf is a s!stem of tests that tests a+ai%a(i%it! of certain features in operating s!stem. It is used for
(ui%ding software from same sources on mu%tip%e p%atforms. If a test succeeds= a preprocessor directi+e is set
in a configuration header fi%e. 5pp%ication de+e%oper can add code for the particu%ar s!stem if the directi+e is
defined.
Page 1 of 18
5utoconf is written in m6 which is a macro processing %anguage a+ai%a(%e on most *nix s!stems.
It is responsi(i%it! of app%ication de+e%oper to write tests. 3owe+er since %arge num(er of 4ree software
pro@ects use 5utoconf= there is a rich set of tests a%read! made and which can (e reused.
Automa&e
5utomake is a too% that makes writing makefi%es eas!. It has a simp%er s!ntax compared to Dake. 5utomake
processes a fi%e ca%%ed as Dake&ile!am and produce -akefi%e. The produced makefi%e has man! usefu%
(ui%t&in targets such as clean= install#uninstall etc.
It supports constructs %ike director! recursion= program and %i(rar! creation in a much simp%er manner
compared to make.
'ersion Control Sstems
5 +ersion contro% s!stem keeps tracks of changes in a set of fi%e. In a software pro@ect= it can keep track of
e+er! change made in sources and hence one can retrie+e an! o%der +ersion for comparison.
T!pica% +ersion contro% operations inc%ude
Checking in a fi%e with changes
Comparing two re+isions of a fi%e (ased on re+ision num(er or dates
-aintaining a change %og which descri(es wh! each change was made.
/
Detrie+ing an! particu%ar +ersion of an! fi%e
Branching of source code a%%owing para%%e% de+e%opment
Creating and app%!ing patches to source tree
5 +ersion contro% s!stem (rings order and maintaina(i%it! to a software pro@ect. 1ithout a +ersion contro%
s!stem= it is not possi(%e to maintain a software pro@ect of considera(%e si?e.
C6S and Su(6ersion are two +ersion contro% s!stems that are wide%! used in 4ree software pro@ects. 'ne
shou%d (e fami%iar with at %east one of them.
%lternate Operating Systems
Linux is @ust one of the man! 4ree 'perating S!stems a+ai%a(%e. There are man! other 'SAs which are *nix
and 4ree software. BS. fami%! of *nix which inc%udes 4reeBS.#:etBS.#'penBS. are the most popu%ar
among such operating s!stems.
5s exp%ained ear%ier= di+ersit! is +er! important from a software de+e%operAs point of +iew. It (rings maturit!
and experience that is in+a%ua(%e.
'nce !ou are fami%iar and comforta(%e with Linux= I recommend that !ou fidd%e with at %east one other 'S.
4reeBS. is the c%osest. .e+e%oping on 4reeBS. with expose !ou to cu%tura% differences (etween these two
which is a good %earning experience in m! opinion.
Contact information
(ditors
5s we ha+e %earnt in %ast section= an! text editor can (e used to write C#C$$ programs. There are p%ethora of
them a+ai%a(%e on Linux. 3ere is (rief introduction for two of them with mention of others. The idea is to
/'f course= entering a correct change %og is app%ication de+e%opers responsi(i%it!.
Page 1" of 18
make sure that if a particu%ar editor is una+ai%a(%e= the other one can (e used.
If !ou donAt know an! editor in Linux= read one of fo%%owing sections to start with.
&i
6i is +er! age&o%d and powerfu% editor. T!pica%%!= Linux has a f%a+or of +i= ca%%ed as Uim;6i Impro+ed<
insta%%ed.
6i has a reputation of (eing tough for new(ies. 3owe+er itAs user (ase swears (! it. It shou%d (e eas! enough
to use if the command reference pro+ided here is hand!. 'f course it wou%d (e %itt%e unfami%iar to start with
(ut that phase wi%% %ast for first few da!s on%!. Learning +i is recommended (ecause !ou wi%% find it a+ai%a(%e
no matter what *nix 'S !ou use.
6i operates in two modes= command mode and editing mode. B! defau%t= it starts in command mode. So
an!thing !ou t!pe is treated as a command. 5n! one of the editing commands starts the editing mode. To
switch (ack to command mode= Esc;escape< is used.
If !ou start +i with a fi%e= !ou can mo+e around the fi%e using arrow ke!s (ut !ou can not edit it (ecause !ou
are in command mode. If !ou start +i with no fi%e= there is nothing to mo+e around.
Demem(er that +i commands are case sensiti+e. 5%so +im a%%ows norma% na+igation contro%s such as arrows
ke!s= page up#page down to (e used. But traditiona% +i ke! se>uences are sti%% mentioned for compati(i%it!
with other *nix 'Ss.
5 (rief +i command reference can (e found in appendix. 6im a%so has a 0*I +ersion g+im which can (e used
with menus and a%% other 0*I goodies. 06im is a%so a+ai%a(%e for 1indows.
ico
Pico is a +er! simp%e editor. It is the defau%t editor in text mai% c%ient pine. The he%p can easi%! (e o(tained
using Control.g. The editor has a on&screen he%p menu which co+ers most (asic operations. It does not
ha+e modes i.e. un%ike 6i= !ou @ust start t!ping. 5%% the commands are paired with Contro% ke!.
'oe
This is another +er! simp%e editor. It has a wordstar %ike ke! (indings and can (e eas! to use for peop%e
fami%iar with wordstar.
'ne thing to remem(er is that pico and @oe are not as easi%! a+ai%a(%e as +i on other *nix 'S.
Others
4o%%owing are other editors that are t!pica%%! a+ai%a(%e on a Linux s!stem. :ote that 7macs is not an editor
(ut +irtua%%! an 'S in itse%f. There are#used&to&(e re%igious wars (etween +i and emacs fans. 3owe+er I am
not co+ering it here (ecause I ha+e ne+er used it persona%%!.
7macs
0:'-7 editors such as 07dit
C.7 editors such as Cate#C1rite
:7dit
Page 18 of 18
Bou can use an! of these. The choice is !ours. *se an editor that suits !our needs.
Appendix
Brief &i command reference
)ile *andling
Command Explanation Command Explanation
G> Huit the editor G>I Huit the editor without sa+ing
Gw Sa+e the fi%e (eing edited Ge fi%e 'pen fi%e for editing.
GnJ Switch to next fi%e for editing GIcommand 7xecute she%% command such as ls
(diting
Command Explanation Command Explanation
i Start 7diting where currnt cursor is o Start editing on a new %ine after
current %ine
' Start editing on a new %ine (efore
current %ine
x .e%ete current character
a 5ppend at the current position. Starts
next to cursor
. Depeat %ast command.;This is not
rea%%! a editing command. It can (e
used with an! other command<
+a,igation
Command Explanation Command Explanation
% -o+e cursor to right h -o+e cursor to %eft
@ -o+e cursor down one %ine k -o+e cursor up one %ine
Contro%&4 Page down Contro%&B Page up
Shift&g 0o to the end of the fi%e Contro%&g Te%% position in fi%e
K Start of current %ine L 7ndof current %ine
-uffer *andling
Command Explanation Command Explanation
dd Cut the current %ine ndd Cut n %ine starting from current %ine
e.g. 3.d cuts 3 %ines
p Paste (uffer after current %ine. There
is no np command. 5%% the %ines
cut#copied are pasted.
P Paste (uffer (efore current %ine
Page 1) of 18
Setting .ptions
Command Explanation Command Explanation
Gset nu Turn %ine num(ering on Gset ai Set auto indent on
Gset a%% Show a%% t!pica% options and their
+a%ues
Gset
e+er!thing
Show a%% options. This %isting is huge
Search and replace
Command Explanation Command Explanation
#MpatternN Search the pattern in forward
direction
2MpatternN Search the pattern in (ackward
direction
n Depeat %ast search
Page 18 of 18