14 DAY TRIAL // SUSE's Andreas Jaeger writes in a blog post about the updated toolchain of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 operating system and the new developer tools it brings.
The article notes the fact that with the release of GNU Compiler Collection 7, the GCC team brought numerous improvements for developers, including better diagnostics, DWARF 5 support, as well as support for the C++ 17 standard.
GCC 7 also contains improved optimization passes and takes advantage of some of the features of modern processors, and now it is available to all SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 customers with an active subscription.
To offer support for the GCC 7 compiler in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, the SUSE team also updated the GNU Binutils and GNU Debugger (GDB) software to versions 2.29 and 8.0.1 respectively in the operating system's developer toolchain.
"These updates are available as part of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscription. The compiler collection is available via the Toolchain module," said Andreas Jaeger. "Binutils and GDB are available as normal maintenance updates."
GNU Debugger 8.0.1 is a welcome addition as it also adds support for the latest DWARF 5 debugging format used by GCC, along with support of C++ rvalue references. For more details about their advantages please check out the blog story.
Here's how to install the new toolchain in SLES 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 customers who want to take advantage of the new toolchain and install it on their computers will have to first register the Toolchain module and then install it via YaST or the Terminal by using the "zypper in gcc-7" command.
After installation, they will be able to use GNU Compiler Collection 7 to compile programs. The new packages are gcc-7 and g++-7 (e.g. gcc-7 hello.c -o hello). The older GCC version is still available and can be used with the gcc or g++ commands.