The c89, c++, and cc utilities invoke the binder by default, unless the output file of the link-editing phase (-o option) is a PDS, in which case they use the prelinker.
You can set the prefix_STEPS environment for each of these utilities to use the prelinker for link-edit output files that are PDSEs or z/OS® UNIX files.
Once you set the prefix_STEPS environment variable for a utility so that the prelinker bit is turned on, that utility will always use the prelinker. If you want to use the binder, you must reset the prefix_STEPS environment variable.
For a complete description of c89, c++, and cc, see c89 — Compiler invocation using host environment variables. For a description of the prefix_STEPS environment variable, see z/OS UNIX System Services Command Reference.