Fantastic Build System Failure Modes and How to Fix Them

Explore common build system failure modes and their solutions in this 23-minute conference talk. Learn why rebuilding target files when source files change is more complex than it seems, and discover why popular build systems like make and ninja often struggle to guarantee optimal rebuilding. Examine reliable methods for encountering these failure modes and understand the architectural choices that lead to them. Dive into DJB's "redo" design as an example of how build system architecture impacts the ability to address these issues. Gain insights into why developers may dismiss such problems and consider the importance of focusing on build correctness to break the cycle of outputting unreliable binaries.