C++: "Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64" error when "std" is used

Question

I'm a new C++ programmer, and I'm trying to run a simple, <10 line program as a system test. My operating system is OSX 10.9.5, and my gcc version is 4.2.1.

I've created a file "test.cpp" which I'm compiling on the command line with gcc. The command is "gcc test.cpp -o test". I then run "./test". (Yes, this is process as basic as it sounds.) The file is below:

#include <iostream>

int main ()
{
  printf("Hello World!");
  std::cout << "Hi again!"; //Problem line
}

When I include the line that includes std, gcc returns the following long error:

Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
  "std::__1::locale::use_facet(std::__1::locale::id&) const", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::ios_base::getloc() const", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::__init(unsigned long, char)", referenced from:
      std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> > std::__1::__pad_and_output<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >, char const*, char const*, char const*, std::__1::ios_base&, char) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> >::~basic_string()", referenced from:
      std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> > std::__1::__pad_and_output<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >, char const*, char const*, char const*, std::__1::ios_base&, char) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >::sentry::sentry(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&)", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >::sentry::~sentry()", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::cout", referenced from:
      _main in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::ctype<char>::id", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::locale::~locale()", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::ios_base::__set_badbit_and_consider_rethrow()", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::__1::ios_base::clear(unsigned int)", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "std::terminate()", referenced from:
      ___clang_call_terminate in test-e54cb2.o
  "___cxa_begin_catch", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
      ___clang_call_terminate in test-e54cb2.o
  "___cxa_end_catch", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
  "___gxx_personality_v0", referenced from:
      std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >& std::__1::operator<<<std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::basic_ostream<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >&, char const*) in test-e54cb2.o
      std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> > std::__1::__pad_and_output<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >(std::__1::ostreambuf_iterator<char, std::__1::char_traits<char> >, char const*, char const*, char const*, std::__1::ios_base&, char) in test-e54cb2.o
      Dwarf Exception Unwind Info (__eh_frame) in test-e54cb2.o
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)

An error of this nature also occurs if I include the line "using namespace std;". It seems like any reference to "std" causes this.

I've read many threads regarding errors of the form "Undefined symbol for architecture...". Most seem to occur for simple issues or for issues arising from conflicts in large projects, and none of them seem to address my particular situation.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

You are writing a C++ program. The compiler is called g++ (not gcc). So use:

g++ test.cpp -o test

Using g++ sets up the linker to link to the correct C++ runtime libraries. If you happen to write a C++ program that doesn't use any standard library functions, then gcc might work but it's still the wrong compiler.