GCC compiler (c++ compilation)
 

I am completely new to linux.
Here are few doubts that have been crawling in my mind

as per what i have read,
GCC-is a GNU Compiler Collection
which can compile c codes.
but for compiling c++ codes, we need g++.
according to my knowledge CPP is a pre-processor
but i have been told that cpp is a compiler as well, is it true?
if yes then, can we use cpp to compile c++ codes?
as in, can we use commands like this:
cpp abc.cpp the way we compile .c files (gcc abc.c)

i am using following version
gcc (GCC) 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-44)

g++ is a part of gcc, but tough gcc is installed, i am unable to see g++ installed.


even if we have cpp, do we need to install g++ or any other c++ compilers?

As far as I know, cpp is only a preprocessor and not a compiler.

You still need to install g++ to compile C++ programs. The package you need to install will likely be called gcc-c++ or gcc-g++, but check your distribution's package management system (presumably yum or something, since it looks Red Hat based).

Okay...thanks a lot Nylex :)
another question is can cpp be used for compiling c++ codes(according to following concept)?
cpp converts C++ files onto a format readable by gcc, n then we can use gcc to compile this converted file.

is this concept of CPP correct (CPP is called using #; and cpp basically includes the contents of header files)?

Read about the Preprocessor here:
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/cpp/

Read about cpp here:
http://linux.about.com/library/cmd/blcmdl1_cpp.htm

Anisha Thanks a lot for your help :)

Most welcome, Pallavi, if those links have cleared your doubt, mark the thread solved.