Clang On Windows < Premium Quality >

--target=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc --target=x86_64-w64-windows-gnu MSVC target (native Windows) clang main.c -o main.exe clang main.cpp -o main.exe -std=c++20 Using clang-cl (MSVC-compatible syntax) clang-cl /EHsc main.cpp /Fe:main.exe MinGW target (produces more Unix-like ABI) clang --target=x86_64-w64-windows-gnu main.c -o main.exe 5. Important Flags for Windows | Purpose | Clang (MSVC target) | clang-cl | |---------|---------------------|-----------| | Enable exceptions | -fexceptions (on by default) | /EHsc | | Enable RTTI | -frtti (on by default) | /GR | | Optimization level | -O2 | /O2 | | Debug symbols | -g | /Zi | | Linker | -fuse-ld=lld (fast) or -fuse-ld=link (MSVC link.exe) | /link | | Precompiled headers | -Xclang -fmodule-header | /Yc , /Yu | | Static runtime | /MT (not in clang, but passed to linker) | /MT | Example: Release build with LTO clang -O2 -flto=thin -fuse-ld=lld main.cpp -o main.exe 6. Linking and Runtimes MSVC target linking Clang expects link.exe (Microsoft linker) or lld-link.exe (LLVM’s MSVC‑compatible linker). If using standalone LLVM without VS, you must install the Windows SDK and MSVC build tools (or copy link.exe and libraries).

To use LLD (faster, no VS dependency):

clang-cl /Zi main.cpp /link /DEBUG Then load into WinDbg. Visual Studio generator + Clang cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -T ClangCL .. This sets clang-cl.exe as the compiler. Ninja generator (explicit Clang) cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ .. Add -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="--target=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc" if needed. Toolchain file for MSVC environment windows_msvc_toolchain.cmake : clang on windows

clang -fuse-ld=lld main.cpp | Flag | Runtime | |-------|---------| | /MD | Dynamic MSVC runtime (msvcp140.dll, vcruntime140.dll) | | /MT | Static MSVC runtime | | /MDd | Dynamic debug runtime | | /MTd | Static debug runtime | If using standalone LLVM without VS, you must

Example with clang-cl: