The Free Software Foundation (FSF) released version 3.0 of the GNU
Compiler Collection this week, adding support for Java and Intel's
IA-64 processor.
A compiler is a piece of software that allows code written in a
programming language to be turned into a format that a processor or
operating system understands.
The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) 3.0 adds support for native
compiling of Java and code for IA-64 processors. Includes rewritten
support for 32-bit processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices
and improves support for the C++ language, according to a release.
All the improvements allow the code generated by the compiler to
run faster and on a broader range of chips, the FSF said.
The GCC is free software, but "free", in this case, refers to the
terms of the program's licensing agreement, rather than its cost.
The compiler is released under the GNU Public Licence (GPL), a
widely used licensing scheme in the Open Source, free software and
Linux movements, by which the source code to the program is made
freely available to its users, so they can inspect or change it.
Free software can be sold but the terms of the GPL always stay with
it.
The GPL is at the heart of Linux - or GNU/Linux, as Richard M.
Stallman, the founder of the FSF and creator of the original GCC,
says it should be called for the sake of clarity - and other open
source software. Having a free compiler is necessary for a free
operating system such as Linux so as to avoid dependence on
proprietary or closed-source programs, Stallman said in the
release.
The GNU Compiler Collection can compile C, C++, Objective C,
Fortran and Java and is available immediately.