Re: Faster compilation speed

[Phil Edwards <phil at jaj dot com>]

On Fri, Aug 09, 2002 at 06:56:58PM -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> In article <20020809200413.46719.qmail@web21403.mail.yahoo.com> you write:
> >Build speeds are most helped by minimizing the number
> >of files opened and closed during the build.
> 
> I _seriously_ doubt that.

To be fair, when listing "things we can do to speed up the build," most
people don't include tinkering with the guts of the compiler.  Statements
like that of the original poster are correct when the compiler cannot be
touched, and in fact many textbooks say exactly that:  minimize the number
of files opened (or more generally, system calls) to speed the build.
(The lesson is typically something about multiple include guard macros or
proper makefile dependancies.)  So let's not be too harsh.

When we're allowed to hack on the compiler source itself, of course,
those statements go right out the window.  :-)


Phil

-- 
I would therefore like to posit that computing's central challenge, viz. "How
not to make a mess of it," has /not/ been met.
                                                 - Edsger Dijkstra, 1930-2002