Inside the Go Build Cache and the Incremental Build Mechanism
How Go employs incremental builds to make the compilation process faster by caching previously compiled packages.
Go is a language famous for its performance, and also its build process is an example. Exploiting the power of incremental builds, Go optimizes its compilation to avoid redundant work and only recompile packages that have undergone changes. As a result, developers experience faster build times and enhanced productivity.
In this article, we will take a look at the mechanism used by Go for caching previously compiled packages. The concepts behind incremental builds are fundamental for understanding how this system can improve the compilation time of your Go application and make your pipeline faster.
The content presented in this article is based on the Go version 1.20. Please note that different versions may have different behaviors.
What Is a Cache?
A cache is a hardware or software component that stores frequently accessed data in a faster and more accessible location, reducing the need to fetch the data from the original source repeatedly.
