recompileAB

RecompileAB is a concept in software engineering describing a workflow and set of tooling patterns aimed at generating and evaluating multiple compiled variants of a software artifact in an A/B like setup. The core goal is to compare performance, correctness, and behavior across variants produced from common source and shared build state.

A typical recompileAB workflow begins with defining variant specifications, such as optimization flags, feature flags, or compiler options. The system then triggers recompilation for each variant, leveraging incremental builds and shared caches to minimize redundant work. Build artifacts are isolated per variant for measurement and validation.

Technical design often involves integration with existing build systems and continuous integration pipelines. Key components include variant manifest, environment capture, artifact management, and a measurement framework. The approach emphasizes reproducible builds, deterministic compiler settings, and traceability from source changes to outputs.

Common use cases include evaluating performance differences between compiler optimizations, verifying correctness under different optimization levels, validating security patches, and tuning platform-specific configurations without duplicating effort across iterations.

Limitations of recompileAB include increased build time and resource usage, greater pipeline complexity, potential drift between environments, and the need for robust tooling to manage many artifact variants. Proper governance and measurement protocols are required to derive reliable conclusions.

The term recompileAB appears in practical discussions of build optimization and automated experimentation but is not a formal standard. It is used descriptively for workflows that reconcile recompilation with A/B style evaluation. Related concepts include A/B testing, reproducible builds, and build automation.