How To Install Clang on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Clang on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Clang is a cutting-edge C, C++, and Objective-C compiler that offers fast performance, robust diagnostics, and extensive support for modern language features.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Clang on Ubuntu 22.04. You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for Clang.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Clang on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish

Step 1. First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2. Installing Clang on Ubuntu 22.04.

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS typically includes the latest stable Clang version in its repositories. To verify the available Clang versions, run:

apt show clang

Now install the chosen Clang version using the package manager:

sudo apt install clang

To verify that Clang has been installed successfully, check the installed version:

clang --version

Step 3. Setting Up Clang Environment Variables.

To ensure Clang works optimally, we need to configure the necessary environment variables.

• Set the PATH Variable.

Add the Clang binary directory to the PATH environment variable so that you can access Clang from any location in the terminal.

echo 'export PATH=/usr/bin/:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Step 2: Set the CC and CXX Variables.

Set the CC and CXX environment variables to point to the Clang compiler for C and C++ respectively.

echo 'export CC=clang' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export CXX=clang++' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Step 4. Compiling C/C++ Code with Clang.

Create a new file named hello.c for C or hello.cpp for C++ and add the following code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
printf("Hello, Clang on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS!\n");
return 0;
}

Use Clang to compile the code into an executable binary:

clang -o hello hello.c # For C
clang++ -o hello hello.cpp # For C++

Run the compiled binary to see the output:

./hello

Step 5. Tips for Optimizing Clang Performance.

To further optimize your code’s performance with Clang, consider using specific compiler flags and techniques.

1. Use Clang’s Optimization Flags:

• -O1, -O2, -O3: Optimize the code for different levels of performance (higher levels may increase compilation time).
• -march=native: Generate code optimized for the host machine’s architecture.

2. Code Refactoring:

• Use const correctly to help Clang perform additional optimizations.
• Avoid unnecessary code duplication.
• Prefer inline functions over macros to enable better type-checking and optimizations.

3. Enable Link-Time Optimization (LTO):

• Use the -flto flag during compilation to enable link-time optimization.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Clang. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Clang on the Ubuntu system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Clang website.