Bloat

[zos (Andrew Tomazos)]

@ste3e

Thank you for the answer. More code, more binary is succinct. I would have thought however that the compiler/linker process would strip away all non used stuff when setting up the function tables. Not more code, more binary, but more used code, more binary. In which case the multiple inclusion of the same function signatures (purposes) would be pared.

I think what you’re talking about is a family of optimizations called “dead code elimination”, where machine code that is determined not to be reachable is stipped out of the program (or dynamic library). See Dead-code elimination - Wikipedia

If you’re curious how C++ compilers and linkers work there is a good site called Compiler Explorer at https://godbolt.org where you can enter some C++ code and see what the actual machine code output is. It’s generally considered a good idea for a programmer to study this topic (at least a little).