Bloat | Bdscr

Example bloaty command:

gcc -DNDEBUG -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections ... ld --gc-sections -o output.elf input.o Or manually strip after linking: bloat bdscr

bloaty -d sections firmware.elf | grep bdscr Bloat in bdscr is a subtle but impactful inefficiency in embedded and low-level software. It stems from over-alignment, static allocation, and leftover debug structures. Detecting it requires basic binary inspection tools; fixing it yields measurable gains in size, speed, and maintainability. // Over-alignment &gt

.bdscr : KEEP(*(.bdscr)) . = ALIGN(4096); // Over-alignment > FLASH With: FLASH With: bdscr_t blocks[256]

bdscr_t blocks[256]; // 256 * 32 bytes = 8KB Use:

Linker script reserved a 64KB aligned block for OTA descriptor storage due to a legacy flash driver requirement.