AIX

Hi, I have the following packages installed on my AIX server

xlC.aix50.rte 10.1.0.2 COMMITTED XL C/C++ Runtime for AIX 5.3
xlC.cpp 9.0.0.0 COMMITTED C for AIX Preprocessor
xlC.msg.en_US.cpp 9.0.0.0 COMMITTED C for AIX Preprocessor
xlC.msg.en_US.rte 10.1.0.2 COMMITTED XL C/C++ Runtime
xlC.rte 10.1.0.2 COMMITTED XL C/C++ Runtime


Q1. Are the preprocessors actually a C compiler ?

Q2. Are the above pre-processors some sort of cut down compiler, as I am wondering how this differs from the IBM compiler delivered via vacpp.cmp.tools ?

Q3. What is the Runtime Environment ( RTE ) - how does it differ from the compiler and the linker ( I believe the linker gets installed separately using the xlcpp.util utilities package ? )


any wisdom greatly appreciated,
Jim

The preprocessor is not at all a compiler. A preprocessor is a preprocessor. I suggest asking only questions here for which a direct wikipedia (or google) search came up empty before.

The "run-time environment" are some libraries used by programs compiled with the XlC compiler suite at runtime.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

was told by a unix admin that the preprocessor was a compiler - thanks for the correction

In this case, and if you are a non-technical person i offer my apologies. Still, get another unix admin and have this one fired for proven incompetence.

I hope this helps.

bakunin

It's part of one. Part of a compiler won't compile, the same way part of a car won't move.

It handles statements like #include and #define, translating them into actual source code. But that's all it can do; it's a text replacement engine, not a machine code generator.