Wild: A Lightning-Fast Alternative to the Linux Linker
If you've ever found yourself waiting for a large C++ project to link, you know that feeling of watching your terminal crawl through object files and libraries. The linking stage can be one of the biggest bottlenecks in development workflows, especially for large codebases. That's where Wild comes in—a new linker that promises to dramatically speed up this process.
David Lattimore's Wild linker is designed as a drop-in replacement for the standard Linux linker, but with one major difference: it's seriously fast. While traditional linkers like GNU ld or gold have served us well for years, Wild takes a fresh approach to the linking process that could change how quickly we get from compilation to execution.
What It Does
Wild is a linker for Linux that focuses on raw speed. It takes your compiled object files and libraries and stitches them together into an executable or shared library, just like the linkers you're already using. The key difference is in how it achieves this—through clever engineering choices that minimize unnecessary work and maximize performance.
At its core, Wild is designed to be compatible with existing build systems, so you can potentially drop it into your current workflow without changing your build scripts or toolchain configuration.
Why It's Cool
The magic of Wild lies in its performance-oriented design. While traditional linkers often prioritize feature completeness and compatibility above all else, Wild takes a more focused approach. It's built with speed as the primary goal, which means making smart trade-offs in its implementation.
What makes this particularly interesting is that linking is one of those fundamental processes that hasn't seen dramatic performance improvements in years. Most developers just accept that linking will be slow for large projects. Wild challenges that assumption by rethinking how the linking process can be optimized from the ground up.
The project is still in early stages, which means there's exciting potential for where it could go. Early adopters can not only benefit from faster build times but also contribute to shaping a tool that could become a standard part of the Linux development toolkit.
How to Try It
Getting started with Wild is straightforward if you're comfortable building from source:
git clone https://github.com/davidlattimore/wild
cd wild
make
The repository includes the source code and build instructions. Since it's a system-level tool, you'll want to test it with non-critical projects first and understand that it's still under active development.
For most developers, the easiest way to experiment would be to try linking a personal project or open source codebase that you're familiar with. This lets you compare the performance against your current linker while having a good baseline for what to expect.
Final Thoughts
Wild represents the kind of tool that can quietly revolutionize developer productivity. While it might not be production-ready for everyone yet, it's exactly the sort of project worth watching—and potentially contributing to. The fact that someone is rethinking fundamental tools like linkers is exciting for the entire ecosystem.
If you work with large C++ codebases or find yourself frequently waiting on links, Wild could be worth experimenting with. Even if you don't switch permanently, understanding its approach might give you insights into your build process. Sometimes the oldest tools in our toolkit are the ones most ripe for innovation.
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