Thread: Linking C files (Unix)

Hi, I am working on a growing c program in a Unix environment.

I have a main program which is linked to some other programs through header files. I compile them all at once as follows

gcc main.c a1.c b1.c

It works. But if I just make changes in a1.c, is there any way I can just recompile that part, and then linking it somehow? (Rather than recompiling everything)

Further, I have an alternative file called a2.c which can replace a1.c (the files contain functions with the same I/O, but somewhat different functionality). If I want to run some runs with a1.c and some with a2.c, do I need to recompile between the runs or is there some way I can have compiled versions of a1 and a2 and simply indicate which one to use when I execute the main program?

Thanks for any and all help.

Tor

Thanks a lot vVv, that helped a lot.

Now, what if I want to use arguments for the objects?

I know that for my executable a.out, I can send in arguments with argv/argc. These go to the main function. But what if I need to specify one or a few arguments for one of the objects, say a1.o. Is this possible to do during linking or execution?

Thanks again,

Tor

Tor