A Firefox developer explains how they achieved 17% faster builds by implementing caching for WebIDL binding code generation. The solution uses buildcache's Lua plugin system to wrap the Python codegen step, which was previously not cached despite producing deterministic output. This optimization significantly reduces build times for clobber builds.
Background
Firefox uses WebIDL files to generate C++ binding code during the build process, which was previously not cached despite being deterministic and time-consuming. Build systems like ccache typically only cache compiler invocations, not code generation steps.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Apr 14, 2026 at 03:24 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10