I don’t think that article’s accurate. At least not anymore. Modern C++ compilers do less while compiling, and much more while linking. This allows them to inli

I don’t think that article’s accurate. At least not anymore. Modern C++ compilers do less while compiling, and much more while linking. This allows them to inline more stuff and apply some other optimizations. VC++ calls that thing “Link-time Code Generation”: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/ltcg-link-time-code-generation?view=vs-2017 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/ltcg-li... LLVM calls it “Link Time Optimization”, pretty similar: http://llvm.org/docs/LinkTimeOptimization.html http://llvm.org/docs/LinkTimeOptimization.html