Update & Apology: I've fully updated the article with new benchmarks. A reader pointed out that the GCC 16 Docker container I originally used was built with i

Update & Apology: I've fully updated the article with new benchmarks. A reader pointed out that the GCC 16 Docker container I originally used was built with internal compiler assertions enabled, skewing the data and unfairly penalizing GCC. I've re-measured everything on a proper release build (Fedora 44), and the compile times are ~50% faster across the board. The article now reflects the accurate numbers, and I've added an appendix showing the exact cost of the debug assertions. I sincerely apologize for the oversight.