You can do (2) if you can tolerate false positives. For example, if a symbol isn't referenced literally elsewhere in the binary, consider it unused, but add a c

You can do (2) if you can tolerate false positives. For example, if a symbol isn't referenced literally elsewhere in the binary, consider it unused, but add a configuration option to keep it in case it is referenced dynamically. The JVM world has been doing this for years with ProGuard.