Linking capabilities and output formats

TinyCC includes an integrated linker that can directly output relocatable ELF files, executable files, and dynamic libraries without relying on an external linker. This self-contained approach makes TCC uniquely portable and fast.

Output file generation

TCC can directly generate multiple output formats without external tools.

ELF file generation

TCC can directly output relocatable ELF files (object files), executable ELF files, and dynamic ELF libraries without an external linker.

# Generate relocatable object file
tcc -c file.c              # Creates file.o

# Combine multiple files into one object
tcc -r -o combined.o a.c b.c

# Generate executable
tcc -o program main.c utils.c

# Statically linked executable
tcc -static -o program main.c

# Generate shared library
tcc -shared -o libmylib.so mylib.c

# With soname for runtime linking
tcc -shared -soname libmylib.so.1 -o libmylib.so.1.0 mylib.c

PE-i386 file generation (Windows)

TCC for Windows supports native Win32 executable formats:

# Console executable
tcc -o program.exe main.c

# GUI executable
tcc -Wl,-subsystem=gui -o program.exe gui_app.c

# DLL (Dynamic Link Library)
tcc -shared -o mylib.dll mylib.c

For detailed Windows usage information, see tcc-win32.txt in the TCC distribution.

Linking behavior

Library linking

TCC linker eliminates unreferenced object code in libraries:

# Link with libraries
tcc -o program main.c -lm -lpthread

# Specify library search paths
tcc -o program main.c -L/opt/libs -lmylib

# Link object files and libraries
tcc -o program main.o utils.o -lm

Important limitation: The linker does a single pass on object and library lists. Order matters! Libraries should come after the object files that use them. Grouping options (--start-group and --end-group) are not supported.

Library linking order example

# Correct order (library after objects that need it)
tcc -o program main.o utils.o -lmath

# Wrong order (may have undefined references)
tcc -o program -lmath main.o utils.o

# Multiple libraries (specify in dependency order)
tcc -o program main.o -lhighlevel -llowlevel -lc

File types

TCC can load multiple input formats:

ELF object files (.o)
Archives (.a files) - static libraries
Dynamic libraries (.so files on Unix, .dll on Windows)
Assembly files (.s and .S)
C source files (.c)

# Mix different input types
tcc -o program main.c utils.o libhelper.a -ldynamic

Output format options

TCC supports multiple output formats through linker options.

ELF variants

tcc -Wl,--oformat=elf32-i386 -o program main.c

# Raw binary output (executable output only)
tcc -Wl,--oformat=binary -o bootloader.bin boot.c

# COFF output (TMS320C67xx target only)
tcc -Wl,--oformat=coff -o program.coff main.c

The binary output format is useful for embedded systems, bootloaders, and firmware where you need a raw binary image without ELF headers.

Linker options

Basic options

Output control

# Specify output file
tcc -o myprogram main.c

# Generate shared library
tcc -shared -o libtest.so test.c

# Generate relocatable object combining inputs
tcc -r -o combined.o file1.c file2.c

Library paths and linking

# Add library search path
tcc -L/usr/local/lib -lmylib main.c

# Link with specific library
tcc -lm -lpthread main.c

# Set TCC internal library path
tcc -B/opt/tcc/lib main.c

Advanced linker options

These options are passed to the linker with -Wl, prefix:

# Don't link with standard libraries
tcc -nostdlib -o bare.elf bare.c

# Don't search default library paths
tcc -Wl,-nostdlib main.c

# Static linking
tcc -static -o program main.c

# Export global symbols to dynamic linker
tcc -rdynamic -o program main.c
tcc -Wl,--export-dynamic -o program main.c

# Export all symbols
tcc -Wl,--export-all-symbols -o program main.c

# Set custom dynamic linker (ELF interpreter)
tcc -Wl,--dynamic-linker=/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 main.c

# Set runtime library search path (rpath)
tcc -Wl,-rpath=/opt/myapp/lib -o program main.c

# Use new DT_RUNPATH instead of DT_RPATH
tcc -Wl,--enable-new-dtags -Wl,-rpath=/opt/lib program.c

# Set soname for shared library
tcc -shared -Wl,-soname=libmylib.so.1 -o libmylib.so.1.0 mylib.c

# Set DT_SYMBOLIC tag
tcc -Wl,-Bsymbolic -shared -o libtest.so test.c

# Control whole archive inclusion
tcc -Wl,--whole-archive -lstaticlib -Wl,--no-whole-archive main.c

Windows-specific options

# Set Windows subsystem
tcc -Wl,-subsystem=console -o app.exe main.c
tcc -Wl,-subsystem=gui -o winapp.exe gui.c
tcc -Wl,-subsystem=wince -o ceapp.exe ce.c

# Modify executable layout
tcc -Wl,-Ttext=0x400000 -o program.exe main.c
tcc -Wl,-section-alignment=4096 -o program.exe main.c
tcc -Wl,-file-alignment=512 -o program.exe main.c
tcc -Wl,-image-base=0x10000000 -o dll.dll lib.c
tcc -Wl,-stack=0x100000 -o program.exe main.c

GNU Linker Scripts

TCC’s linker supports a subset of GNU ld scripts. This is necessary because many Linux systems use linker scripts for dynamic libraries (like /usr/lib/libc.so).

Supported commands

GROUP command

Group multiple libraries together:

/* GNU ld script example from /usr/lib/libc.so */
GROUP ( /lib/libc.so.6 /usr/lib/libc_nonshared.a )

This allows using both shared and static libraries together.

FILE command

Specify individual files:

FILE ( /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 )

OUTPUT_FORMAT and TARGET (ignored)

These commands are recognized but ignored:

OUTPUT_FORMAT(elf64-x86-64)
TARGET(elf64-x86-64)

Position Independent Code (PIC)

Current limitation: TCC does not generate position independent code (PIC) for dynamic libraries. This means:

Dynamic library code generated by TCC cannot be shared among processes
Each process gets its own copy of the library code in memory
This may increase memory usage when multiple processes use the same TCC-compiled shared library

# This creates a shared library, but without PIC
tcc -shared -o libtest.so test.c

Practical examples

Building a complete application

# Single file
tcc -o hello hello.c

# Multiple files
tcc -o app main.c utils.c parser.c -lm

# Compile object files
tcc -c lib1.c
tcc -c lib2.c

# Create archive with ar
ar rcs libmylib.a lib1.o lib2.o

# Link with the static library
tcc -o program main.c -L. -lmylib

# Create shared library
tcc -shared -o libutils.so utils.c -lm

# Use the shared library
tcc -o program main.c -L. -lutils

# Run with custom library path
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=. ./program

# 32-bit binary on 64-bit system
tcc -m32 -o program32 main.c

# 64-bit binary
tcc -m64 -o program64 main.c

Advanced linking scenarios

Plugin system with dlopen

// Build main program with exported symbols
tcc -rdynamic -o app main.c -ldl

// Build plugin as shared library
tcc -shared -o plugin.so plugin.c

The -rdynamic flag exports symbols so plugins can access them via dlopen().

Embedded/bare metal

# Create raw binary for embedded system
tcc -nostdlib -Wl,--oformat=binary -Wl,-Ttext=0x8000 \
    -o firmware.bin startup.S main.c

# Custom linker script (partial support)
tcc -nostdlib -o firmware.elf -Wl,-T,custom.ld main.c

Platform support

Linker capabilities by platform:

Platform	Object Files	Executables	Shared Libs	Notes
Linux i386	ELF32	Yes	Yes	Full support
Linux x86_64	ELF64	Yes	Yes	Full support
Windows i386	PE	EXE/DLL	DLL	Full support
Windows x86_64	PE+	EXE/DLL	DLL	Full support
ARM	ELF32	Yes	Yes	Supported
ARM64	ELF64	Yes	Yes	Supported
RISC-V	ELF64	Yes	Yes	Supported

For best cross-platform compatibility, stick to standard library linking and avoid platform-specific linker scripts when possible.

Get Started

CLI Usage

Features

Advanced

Linking capabilities and output formats

Output file generation

ELF file generation

PE-i386 file generation (Windows)

Linking behavior

Library linking

File types

Output format options

ELF variants

Linker options

Basic options

Advanced linker options

Windows-specific options

GNU Linker Scripts

Supported commands

Position Independent Code (PIC)

Practical examples

Building a complete application

Advanced linking scenarios

Platform support

​Output file generation

​ELF file generation

​PE-i386 file generation (Windows)

​Linking behavior

​Library linking

​File types

​Output format options

​ELF variants

​Linker options

​Basic options

​Advanced linker options

​Windows-specific options

​GNU Linker Scripts

​Supported commands

​Position Independent Code (PIC)

​Practical examples

​Building a complete application

​Advanced linking scenarios

​Platform support

Output file generation

ELF file generation

PE-i386 file generation (Windows)

Linking behavior

Library linking

File types

Output format options

ELF variants

Linker options

Basic options

Advanced linker options

Windows-specific options

GNU Linker Scripts

Supported commands

Position Independent Code (PIC)

Practical examples

Building a complete application

Advanced linking scenarios

Platform support