Slow linking phase in compilation

7/10 High

The linking phase is performed from scratch every time and is a major bottleneck in the build process. Since Rust delegates linking to external system linkers, performance improvements are limited, though the Rust team is attempting to switch to faster linkers by default.

Rust
Category
build
Workaround
partial
Stage
build
Freshness
persistent
Scope
language
Upstream
open
Recurring
Yes
Buyer Type
team
Maintainer
active

Sources

Collection History

Query: “What are the most common pain points with Rust for developers in 2025?”3/30/2026

The linking phase is too slow. This was a very common complaint, and it is indeed a real issue, because unlike the rest of the compilation process, linking is always performed 'from scratch'.

Created: 3/30/2026Updated: 3/30/2026