How to Install the GCC C++ Compiler on Linux Mint

If you try to compile C++ code on a Linux Mint or Ubuntu computer using gcc, the compile will fail. C++ code needs to be compiled using the g++ compiler which must first be installed. This article explains how to install the GCC C++ compiler on Linux Mint and Ubuntu based systems.

Trying to compile a C++ program with gcc gives the following error.

gcc: error trying to exec 'cc1plus': execvp: No such file or directory

If g++ is used to compile the C++ program, an error message appears that indicates that g++ is currently not installed:

The program 'g++' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install g++

Installing the GCC C++ Compiler

Before installing new software it is best to update the system. Open a terminal window and enter the following.

sudo apt-get update

Now install the C++ compiler by entering the following:

sudo apt-get install g++

Compiling a Simple C++ Program

The simple “Hello World” C++ code shown below can be used to test if the C++ compiler is installed and working. Save the code to a text file called hello.cpp.

#include <iostream>

int main (void)
{
    std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";

    return 0;
}

Compile the above program using the GCC C++ compiler as shown below. Open a terminal window and change directory to the directory containing the hello.cpp file before compiling.

g++ -o hello hello.cpp

This will create an executable file called hello which can be run from the terminal window by entering the following command.

./hello

The hello.cpp program is shown in the Geany editor here.

This is what the command line looks like after compiling the hello.cpp program using the g++ compiler and then running the hello application.

Hello, world! is printed in the terminal window when the program is run.