Compile given source files so that they can subsequently be collected
into a shared object using R CMD SHLIB or an executable
program using R CMD LINK. Not available on Windows.
R CMD COMPILE [options] srcfilesA list of the names of source files to be compiled.
Currently, C, C++, Objective C, Objective C++ and Fortran are
supported; the corresponding files should have the extensions
.c, .cc (or .cpp), .m,
.mm (or .M), .f and .f90 or .f95,
respectively.
A list of compile-relevant settings, or for obtaining information about usage and version of the utility.
R CMD SHLIB can both compile and link files into a
shared object: since it knows what run-time libraries are needed
when passed C++, Fortran and Objective C(++) sources, passing source
files to R CMD SHLIB is more reliable.
Objective C and Objective C++ support is optional and will work only if the corresponding compilers were available at R configure time: their main usage is on macOS.
Compilation arranges to include the paths to the R public C/C++ headers.
As this compiles code suitable for incorporation into a shared object, it generates PIC code: that might occasionally be undesirable for the main code of an executable program.
This is a make-based facility, so will not compile a source file
if a newer corresponding .o file is present.
LINK, SHLIB, dyn.load;
the section on “Customizing compilation under Unix” in
“R Administration and Installation”
(see the doc/manual subdirectory of the R source tree).