Symbols which were not used, still in binary

[Ingo Krabbe]

Am Mittwoch, 28. Juni 2006 23:20 schrieb Brian Dessent:
> Michael Eager wrote:
> > Arguably, the linker should know
> > that add is not referenced and could remove it, but linkers are not
> > usually able to slice and dice object files.
>
> You address this limitation by compiling with "-ffunction-sections
> -fdata-sections -Wl,--gc-sections".  However, it's still better to use
> "static" on these kinds of local functions that are only used from the
> same .o file.  This has a number of benefits:
>
> - it ensures that internal functions of a library are not exported for
> use by other code when they are not part of the defined ABI/API
> - it prevents them from taking up needless relocations, which can slow
> linking
> - when compiled -fpic (as in a shared library) it allows for direct
> calls to the function instead of having to go through the PLT which is
> slower
> - it allows the compiler freedom to inline
>

and you are warned about unused static symbols.  hmm, reminds me of cleaning 
my attic ...

> Brian