Question

There is a difference of size in the executable file when i compile the code with gcc (using the terminal) and eclipse cdt.gcc 8kb and eclispse 27 kb.why does it happen? Isn’t the eclipse using the same gcc compiler that was preinstalled?. The program is very simple ,but would it make significant size increment for larger code and compromize program performance ?

Answer 1

Yes, Eclipse is using the same gcc. However, it’s likely that Eclipse add to the binary file some information for its debugging. For example, it’s likely that Eclipse runs gcc with -g options which will include inside the binary the whole source code. This can result in very big difference about executable size.

For example, try to compile this simple program:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int i;
    for (i=0; i<10; i++)
        printf("Hello, world!");

    return 0;
}

Try with:

$ gcc -o program program.c
$ gcc -o program_g program.c
$ ls -lh | grep program
-rwxr-xr-x  1 zagorax users     7,8K set 11 19:37 program
-rwxr-xr-x  1 zagorax users     8,4K set 11 19:37 program_g
-rw-r--r--  1 zagorax users      105 set 11 19:35 program.c

Of course, different gcc option may result in different size.