What are the GCC default include directories?
When I compile a very simple source file with gcc I don't have to specify the path to standard include files such as stdio or stdlib.
How does GCC know how to find these files?
Does it have the /usr/include path hardwired inside, or it will get the paths from other OS components?
In order to figure out the default paths used by gcc/g++, as well as their priorities, you need to examine the output of the following commands:
- For C:
gcc -xc -E -v -
- For C++:
gcc -xc++ -E -v -
The credit goes to Qt Creator team.
There is a command with a shorter output, which allows to automatically cut the include pathes from lines, starting with a single space:
$ echo | gcc -Wp,-v -x c++ - -fsyntax-only
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/include-fixed"
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/../../../../x86_64-redhat-linux/include"
#include "..." search starts here:
#include <...> search starts here:
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/../../../../include/c++/4.8.2
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/../../../../include/c++/4.8.2/x86_64-redhat-linux
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/../../../../include/c++/4.8.2/backward
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.8.2/include
/usr/local/include
/usr/include
End of search list.
The credit goes to the libc++ front-page.
Though I agree with Ihor Kaharlichenko’s answer for considering C++ and with abyss.7’s answer for the compactness of its output, they are still incomplete for the multi-arch versions of gcc because input processing depends on the command line parameters and macros.
Example:
echo | /opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -specs=nano.specs -mcpu=cortex-m4 -march=armv7e-m -mthumb -mfloat-abi=soft -x c++ -E -Wp,-v\
- -fsyntax-only yields
⋮
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../arm-none-eabi/include/newlib-nano
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1/arm-none-eabi/thumb/v7e-m/nofp
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1/backward
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include-fixed
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include
⋮
whereas echo | /opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++ -x c++ -E -Wp,-v - -fsyntax-only yields
⋮
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1/arm-none-eabi
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include/c++/9.2.1/backward
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include-fixed
/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-9-2019-q4-major/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/include
⋮
The former invocation utilizes newlib (see lines 1 and 3 of the output), the latter goes with the standard includes. The common files at the end of the list are an example for the usage of include_next.
Bottom line: Always consider all macros and compiler options when printing the include directories.