Next: Implementation Details, Previous: Preprocessor Output, Up: Top

## 10 Traditional Mode

Traditional (pre-standard) C preprocessing is rather different from the preprocessing specified by the standard. When the preprocessor is invoked with the `-traditional-cpp` option, it attempts to emulate a traditional preprocessor.

This mode is not useful for compiling C code with GCC, but is intended for use with non-C preprocessing applications. Thus traditional mode semantics are supported only when invoking the preprocessor explicitly, and not in the compiler front ends.

The implementation does not correspond precisely to the behavior of early pre-standard versions of GCC, nor to any true traditional preprocessor. After all, inconsistencies among traditional implementations were a major motivation for C standardization. However, we intend that it should be compatible with true traditional preprocessors in all ways that actually matter.