GNU C++ (g++) produces big executables for tiny programs; Why?, C++ FAQ

C++ FAQ / Section 38 / FAQ 38.10

Section 38:

38.1	Where can I download a free C++ compiler?
38.2	Where can I get more information on using MFC and Visual C++?
38.3	How do I display text in the status bar using MFC?
38.4	How can I decompile an executable program back into C++ source code?
38.5	Where can I get information about the C++ compiler from {Borland, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, etc.}?
38.6	What's the difference between C++ and Visual C++?
38.7	How do compilers use "over-allocation" to remember the number of elements in an allocated array?
38.8	How do compilers use an "associative array" to remember the number of elements in an allocated array?
38.9	If name mangling was standardized, could I link code compiled with compilers from different compiler vendors?
38.10	GNU C++ (g++) produces big executables for tiny programs; Why?
38.11	Is there a `yacc`-able C++ grammar?
38.12	What is C++ 1.2? 2.0? 2.1? 3.0?
38.13	Is it possible to convert C++ to C?

[38.10] GNU C++ (g++) produces big executables for tiny programs; Why?

libg++ (the library used by g++) was probably compiled with debug info (-g). On some machines, recompiling libg++ without debugging can save lots of disk space (approximately 1 MB; the down-side: you'll be unable to trace into libg++ calls). Merely strip-ping the executable doesn't reclaim as much as recompiling without -g followed by subsequent strip-ping the resultant a.out's.

Use size a.out to see how big the program code and data segments really are, rather than ls -s a.out which includes the symbol table.