smartest recompilation
To separately compile a program module in traditional statically-typed languages, one has to manually write down an import interface which explicitly specifies all the external symbols referenced in the module. Whenever the definitions of these external symbols are changed, the module has to be recompiled. In this paper, we present an algorithm which can automatically infer the minimum import interface for any module in languages based on the Damas-Milner type discipline (e.g., ML). By minimum, we mean that the interface specifies a set of assumptions (for external symbols) that are just enough to make the module type-check and compile. By compiling each module using its minimum import interface, we get a separate compilation method that can achieve the following optimal property: A compilation unit never needs to be recompiled unless its own implementation changes .
compilation separate compilation module language writing interfaces definition paper algorithm mean method optimality implementation  ml 