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Introduction to TinyCC

TinyCC (also known as TCC) is a small but hyper-fast C compiler. Unlike other C compilers, it is self-relying—you don’t need an external assembler or linker because TCC does that for you.

Installation

Get TinyCC running on Linux, BSD, macOS, or Windows

Quick start

Compile and run your first C program in seconds

Command line

Learn TCC command line options and usage

C scripting

Run C code like shell scripts with shebang support

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Why TinyCC?

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Small

You can compile and execute C code everywhere, even on rescue disks. TCC’s tiny footprint makes it ideal for embedded systems, minimal environments, and situations where disk space is limited.

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Fast

TCC generates machine code for i386, x86_64, ARM, AArch64, and RISC-V. It compiles and links about 10 times faster than gcc -O0. For many projects, compilation is so fast that you don’t even need Makefiles. 
# Typical GCC workflow
gcc -O0 hello.c -o hello
time: 0.5s

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Unlimited

Any C dynamic library can be used directly. TCC supports ANSI C, most of ISO C99, and many GNU C extensions including inline assembly. TCC can even compile itself.

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Safe

TCC includes an optional memory and bounds checker. Bounds-checked code can be mixed freely with standard code, and checks work even with unpatched libraries.

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Key features

Direct execution

Compile and execute C source directly without linking or assembly steps

C scripting

Add #!/usr/local/bin/tcc -run to your C source and execute it like a shell script

Full preprocessor

Complete C preprocessor included with macro support

Dynamic code generation

Use libtcc as a backend for runtime code generation

Multi-architecture

Supports i386, x86_64, ARM, AArch64, and RISC-V architectures

Bounds checking

Automatic memory and bounds checking for safer code

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Use cases

1

Rapid prototyping

Get instant feedback on your C code without waiting for slow compilation cycles. Perfect for learning C or testing algorithms.
2

C scripting

Write system utilities and automation scripts in C instead of shell or Python. Get the performance of C with the convenience of scripting.
3

Embedded development

Deploy a complete C compiler on resource-constrained systems where larger toolchains won’t fit.
4

Build-free development

Skip complex build systems and Makefiles. Just run your code directly during development.
TCC aims for full ISO C99 compliance and includes many GNU C extensions. It can compile standard C code that works with GCC or Clang.

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Platform support

TinyCC runs on:
  • Linux (all major distributions)
  • BSD variants (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD)
  • macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)
  • Windows (native Win32 support)
Target architectures:
  • i386 (32-bit x86)
  • x86_64 (64-bit x86)
  • ARM (32-bit)
  • AArch64 (64-bit ARM)
  • RISC-V (64-bit)

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Next steps

Install TinyCC

Follow the installation guide for your platform

Try the quick start

Compile and run your first program in under a minute

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