[kwhitefoot]

Why isn't there some kind of 'compiler/linker/stripper' that would collect the functions actually used and compile them into an application specific library? Yes I know that dynamic dispatch makes that difficult but the programmer does surely know which functions he wants to call.

I sometimes hanker for a return to Fortran IV where every routine was separately compiled and the linker only put into the object code those that were referred to by something else.

[mattlondon]

Do you mean tree-shaking? I think basically all JavaScript "compilers" do this these days so that the code you serve is only the code you actually use.

[samatman]

Zig handles this with lazy compilation: code is parsed, but not even type checked, until the compiler reaches it.

This can lead to the occasional rude surprise when finally reaching code I've been working on for awhile, but haven't yet connected to the rest of the project. But it means there's no need for tree shaking, because nothing gets in until it gets used. One of my favorite things about the language.

[ArtixFox]

its such a useful technique. tiny binaries ftw!!