-g vs -g3 -ggdb3

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   Q1 Which is the best setting to use with gdb (under linux)?

It depends on the task.

   Q2 Is there anyway to decrease the bloat?

You can always use a lower debugging level, but then you lose some
information.  It is always possible to debug programs just by
examining the assembler output as well.

   Q3 Do we need to say -g3 -ggdb3 or is -ggdb3 sufficient?

-ggdb produces debuging information only usable by gdb, while -g
produces whatever the native system uses.