[vox-tech] gcc easy question

[Jeff Newmiller]

Alex Mandel wrote:
> So I'm trying to learn how to compile things for distribution and had an 
>  easy question.
> 1. When I use gcc how do I tell it to output the files to a separate 
> directory so that I have just the libraries and executables I need for 
> distribution.

see the "-o" option for gcc.  Just specify a relative directory name as
part of the destination filename.

> 2. Will it output only what I need or will there be a bunch of 
> intermediate files too that I could skip for the distribution.

While is is possible to compile and link from source to executable
in one step, it isn't very common for medium to large-scale programs
because the all-in-one compilation slows the development cycle down.
For this reason, many makefile authors put in a "clean" virtual target
to delete temporary files.

You might find reading [1] and [2] helpful... in particular the link to
"Makefile Conventions" in the latter.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make
[2] http://www.gnu.org/software/make/

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