Supported Compilers

Supported compilers

Bear recognizes compiler executables by filename pattern matching. Recognized compilers get their command-line flags parsed and classified so that Bear can produce accurate compile_commands.json entries.

Recognition features

• Versioned names: gcc-11, clang-17, icx-2024
• Cross-compilation prefixes: arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc, aarch64-linux-gnu-clang
• Windows .exe extension: gcc.exe, cl.exe, clang-cl.exe
• Compiler wrappers: ccache, distcc, sccache are unwrapped transparently

Compiler table

Family	Executables	Versioned	Cross-prefix	Extends	Platforms
GCC	gcc, g++, cc, c++, gfortran, egfortran, f95	yes	yes	-	Linux, macOS, BSDs, Windows/MinGW
Clang	clang, clang++	yes	yes	GCC	Linux, macOS, BSDs, Windows, Android
MSVC	cl	no	no	-	Windows
clang-cl	clang-cl	yes	no	MSVC	Windows, Linux (cross)
Intel C/C++	icx, icpx, icc, icpc	yes	no	Clang	Linux
Intel Fortran	ifort, ifx	yes	no	-	Linux, Windows
NVIDIA CUDA	nvcc	yes	yes	GCC	Linux, Windows
NVIDIA HPC SDK	nvc, nvc++, nvfortran, pgcc, pgc++, pgfortran	yes	no	-	Linux
Flang	flang, flang-new	yes	yes	GCC	Linux
ARM Compiler 6	armclang, armclang++	yes	no	Clang	Linux
IBM Open XL	ibm-clang, ibm-clang++, xlclang, xlclang++	yes	no	Clang	Linux (ppc64le)
Cray Fortran	crayftn, ftn	yes	no	-	Linux (Cray)

Extends means the compiler inherits all flag definitions from the parent. For example, Intel C/C++ inherits all Clang flags (which in turn inherits all GCC flags), then adds Intel-specific flags on top.

Custom compilers

If your compiler is not listed above, or uses a non-standard executable name, you can tell Bear about it in a configuration file:

schema: "4.1"
compilers:
  - path: /opt/custom/bin/my-cc
    as: gcc
  - path: /usr/local/bin/zapcc++
    as: clang

The as field accepts: gcc, clang, msvc, clang-cl, intel_cc, intel_fortran, cuda, nvidia_hpc, flang, armclang, ibm_xl, cray_fortran.

Compiler wrappers

Bear transparently handles these compiler wrappers:

• ccache - compiler cache
• distcc - distributed compilation
• sccache - shared compilation cache

When Bear sees ccache gcc -c foo.c, it records the gcc -c foo.c part.

Ignoring compilers

To exclude a specific compiler from the output:

schema: "4.1"
compilers:
  - path: /usr/bin/gcc
    ignore: true

Platform notes

cc and c++ on different platforms

The generic names cc and c++ point to different compilers depending on the operating system:

Platform	cc is typically	c++ is typically
Linux (most distros)	GCC	GCC
macOS	Apple Clang	Apple Clang
FreeBSD	Clang	Clang
OpenBSD	Clang	Clang
NetBSD	GCC	GCC

Bear defaults to treating cc/c++ as GCC. On platforms where they are actually Clang, add a configuration hint:

schema: "4.1"
compilers:
  - path: /usr/bin/cc
    as: clang
  - path: /usr/bin/c++
    as: clang

This ensures clang-specific flags are parsed correctly. Most common flags are shared between GCC and Clang, so the default usually works. The config hint matters when clang-only flags like -fcolor-diagnostics or -Wno-unused-command-line-argument are used.