diff --git a/docs/markdown/FAQ.md b/docs/markdown/FAQ.md index 74696f8c0..1894f27ec 100644 --- a/docs/markdown/FAQ.md +++ b/docs/markdown/FAQ.md @@ -639,3 +639,47 @@ tested, generally don't regress, and users are more likely to have domain knowledge about them. They also tend to have better tooling (such as autocompletion, linting, testing solutions), which make them a lower maintenance burden over time. + +## Why don't the arguments passed to `add_project_link_arguments` affect anything? + +Given code like this: +```meson +add_project_link_arguments(['-Wl,-foo'], language : ['c']) +executable( + 'main', + 'main.c', + 'helper.cpp', +) +``` + +One might be surprised to find that `-Wl,-foo` is *not* applied to the linkage +of the `main` executable. In this Meson is working as expected, since meson will +attempt to determine the correct linker to use automatically. This avoids +situations like in autotools where dummy C++ sources have to be added to some +compilation targets to get correct linkage. So in the above case the C++ linker +is used, instead of the C linker, as `helper.cpp` likely cannot be linked using +the C linker. + +Generally the best way to resolve this is to add the `cpp` language to the +`add_project_link_arguments` call. +```meson +add_project_link_arguments(['-Wl,-foo'], language : ['c', 'cpp']) +executable( + 'main', + 'main.c', + 'helper.cpp', +) +``` + +To force the use of the C linker anyway the `link_language` keyword argument can +be used. Note that this can result in a compilation failure if there are symbols +that the C linker cannot resolve. +```meson +add_project_link_arguments(['-Wl,-foo'], language : ['c']) +executable( + 'main', + 'main.c', + 'helper.cpp', + link_language : 'c', +) +```