This section describes the switches accepted by the compiler driver, hcl. The compiler driver is capable of controlling compilation by all supported language compilers and the final link by the linker. It can also construct libraries automatically.

In contrast to many compilation and assembly language development systems, with you don't invoke the assembler or compiler directly. Instead you'll normally use the compiler driver hcl as it provides an easy way to get files compiled, assembled, and linked. This section will introduce you to using the compiler driver to convert your source files to object files, executables, or other formats.

We recommend that you use the compiler driver rather than use the assembler or compiler directly because there the driver can assemble multiple files using one command line and can invoke the linker for you too. There is no reason why you should not invoke the assembler or compiler directly yourself, but you'll find that typing in all the required options is quite tedious-and why do that when hcl will provide them for you automatically?