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1. Write documentation while things are compiling.

2. Finish other work.

3. If you iterate a lot, maybe just reading the code figuring out your next steps.

4. Maybe figure out why it's taking so long, and figure out a way to speed things up.

5. Write more tests.

ccache[1] works for me.

http://ccache.samba.org

Like all things, it's not a panacea: https://blog.flameeyes.eu/2010/07/debunking-ccache-myths-red...

Of course, if you're rebuilding the same code over and over it can be a net win, but -in the comments- it is mentioned that the obvious things -that one might end up doing somewhat frequently in C/C++ development- invalidate the cache.

Go play a game of ping pong. Saving yourself from RSI and carpel tunnel is considered productive in my book.

Get up, walk around, stretch, think. Talk to other people, unless it's interrupting them.

Large Scale C++ Software Development

John Lakos

The book explains how to design large systems to contain compile times.

golang