Incremental Builds

Incremental builds compile only changed files and their dependents rather than rebuilding everything. Implementing incremental builds dramatically improves development iteration speed for design systems.

What Are Incremental Builds

Incremental builds are compilation processes that identify what has changed since the last build and recompile only affected portions. Instead of processing all source files, incremental builds process the minimum necessary to reflect changes.

For design systems with many components, incremental builds provide substantial time savings. Changing one component triggers recompilation of only that component and its dependents rather than the entire library. This enables rapid iteration during development.

How Incremental Builds Work

Change detection identifies which files have been modified. File timestamps, content hashes, or version control information indicate changes. Accurate detection is essential for correctness.

Dependency analysis determines what depends on changed files. When a utility changes, components using it must be recompiled. Dependency graphs map these relationships. Analysis ensures all affected code is rebuilt.

Selective compilation processes only identified files. Build tools compile changed files and their dependents. Unchanged, unaffected files use cached results. This selective approach minimizes work.

Cache management stores and retrieves previous build results. Caches must be invalidated correctly when dependencies change. Corrupted caches can produce incorrect builds. Cache management ensures reliability.

Key Considerations

• Change detection must be accurate
• Dependency analysis must be complete
• Cache invalidation must be correct
• Build tools must support incremental operation
• Configuration should enable incremental builds

Common Questions

What build tools support incremental builds?

TypeScript, webpack, and most modern build tools support incremental compilation. Monorepo tools like Turborepo and Nx add project-level incrementality. Tool configuration determines whether incremental features are active.

How much time do incremental builds save?

Savings depend on project size and change scope. For large projects with small changes, incremental builds can be 10-100x faster than full builds. The benefit increases with project size.

Can incremental builds produce incorrect results?

Incorrect dependency analysis or cache corruption can produce incorrect builds. Quality build tools handle these cases correctly. When problems occur, full rebuilds resolve them. Reliable tools minimize such issues.

Summary

Incremental builds improve development speed by compiling only changed portions. Success requires accurate change detection, complete dependency analysis, and reliable caching. Organizations should enable incremental builds to accelerate design system development iteration.