One could consider static linking in this scenario just an optimization for incremental builds with separate compilation of source files; it's not really used t

One could consider static linking in this scenario just an optimization for incremental builds with separate compilation of source files; it's not really used to, e.g. link a library that has no source. In that sense, it's just an implementation detail that's leaked from a build system that notionally recompiles from source but has unwisely exposed the units of its caching system. Microcontroller programs are also pretty small; it's not difficult to load the whole program into memory on a workstation and compile the whole thing together. This is how Virgil (circa 2006) worked.