title: pre-link static libraries for ios project
body: <p>I have a big iOS project that consists from several (about 20-30) static libraries that link together into final executable. Some of the components are platform-independent (pure C++) and some are iOS-specific (Obj-C/Obj-C++). C++ templates are used intensively, so each object file contains lots of symbols with vague linkage. The problem is that these symbols are merged only during linking of the final executable, but not when making static libraries. Each library contains tons of duplicated symbols (6-60 clones). So final linking of the app takes several minutes. This becomes extremely annoying when debugging and doing some small changes.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a way to perform merging of the symbols with vague linkage for each library?</p>
  
  <p>I known, that this is done automatically when using dynamic libraries. With some hacking (http://sumgroup.wikispaces.com/iPhone_Dynamic_Library) it is possible to build dynamic libraries for iOS. Is there a way to link dylib's statically (link them into a single executable file)?</p>
  
  <p>Of course, being able to debug resulting app is a must.</p>