"undefined reference to 'abort'" error message

Why do I get an "undefined reference to 'abort'" linker error when building a C++ application?

The C++ library calls the function abort on errors such as being unable to allocate memory when calling the new operator.

This function is not included in the C++ library allowing you to handle the error in your application as you see fit, you therefore need to implement this function yourself in your application.

The following code demonstrates a very simple abort handler implementation:

extern "C" void abort(void)
{
  while (1);
}