Why would the size of the final binary be so much smaller than the size of the static library?

Question

This is an iOS question.

I build a static library (a framework in iOS) which is then included in an app. The size of the result binary (500kb) is smaller than the size of the static library (6mb). How does this work? My understanding of static library is that the static library is included in the final binary

Answer 1

Because you are not using all the functions of your library. A static library of archive type .a is a collection of .o object files and only the object files needed in your program are included at link time.