LLVM IR influence on compiler debugging

[Sean Cavanaugh]

On 7/7/2012 11:05 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>
> Compilation is a huge bottleneck for any major C++ code base, and adding
> hardware (distributing compilation etc) is survival, but definitely
> doesn't scale to make the problem negligible.
>
> In contrast, programmers have considerable control about generating fast
> code.
>

Our bottleneck with a large C++ codebase (Unreal Engine based game) is 
linking.  Granted we have beefy workstations (HP Z800 with dual quad or 
hex core xeons and hyperthreading), but a full build+link is 4-5 min, 
and a single change+link is over 2 min.

You can also speed up C++ compiling by merging a bunch of the .cpp files 
together (google "unity c++ build"), though if you go too crazy you will 
learn compilers eventually do explode when fed 5-10 megs of source code 
per translation unit heh.