The Mold Linker Is Great & Set To Become Even Better

[Ironmask]

I've recently seen Mold suggested as a way to speed up the rapid development cycle of Rust programs, considering it can take a while to compile larger projects (for me, just relying on SurrealDB alone is adding a good minute on to my builds). It's a shame I'm developing on Windows and can't take advantage of it, feels like even more of an example of Microsoft's total disregard of their desktop market these days.

[dumb ways to code]

I wonder if mold can be used for the final builds or is it only for quick debug builds? Does it produce binaries that are running as fast as if when built using legacy linkers? Can LTO be performed when using mold? I couldn't find this information on the internet.

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Mold Linker Is Great & Set To Become Even Better

When it comes to open-source compiler toolchain components and more broadly often unsung heroes in the low-level open-source space, one of the most interesting successes in recent years has been the Mold linker that has proven itself a viable alternative to GNU ld and Gold or LLVM's lld linkers. Mold is already in great shape and typically proving itself well while moving ahead they are working toward kernel/embedded programming support as one of the last grounds to tackle...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Mold-Linker-FOSDEM-2024