Can C 11, C 14, and C 17 Objects be Safely Linked Using the Same Compiler?

Compatibility of Linking C 17, C 14, and C 11 Objects

Safe Combinations

In a scenario where three compiled objects (A, B, and C) are produced using the same compiler version:

• A compiled with C 11 standard
• B compiled with C 14 standard
• C compiled with C 17 standard

...and assuming that:

• Headers are written in C 11
• Constructs have consistent semantics across all three standards
• Interdependencies are correctly expressed

...it is safe to link any combination of these objects according to GCC. GCC ensures ABI compatibility in such cases, regardless of the standard version used.

Caveats

However, linking issues may arise if objects are compiled with different GCC versions and unstable C standard features are used. For example, linking objects compiled with GCC 4.9 and 5, using C 11 standard, can lead to problems due to unstable C 11 support in GCC 4.x.

Stability of C 03, C 11, and C 17 support in different GCC versions is as follows:

• C 03: Stable in all versions
• C 11: Stable since GCC 5
• C 17: Experimental in GCC 7 and 8

Additional Considerations

• When using different C standard versions, ensure that the shared library (libstdc .so) is at least as new as the version used to compile any of the objects.
• GCC provides two implementations of std::string since version 5. Objects using std::string should be compiled with the same implementation for compatibility.

The above is the detailed content of Can C 11, C 14, and C 17 Objects be Safely Linked Using the Same Compiler?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!