perf: add 4 workflow modes (BUILD_TESTING / DEV_BUILD / HEADERS_CHECK / ccache)

Four orthogonal opt-in build modes on top of the existing PCH + Unity
defaults.  Each addresses a specific iteration scenario; defaults are
unchanged (PCH + Unity stays the canonical fast full-rebuild path).

(A) HEADERS_CHECK target — opt-in via -DCONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK=ON
    Per-public-header smoke-compile sentinels.  For each of the six
    public CGAL umbrella headers, a stub TU `#include <…>\nint main(){}`
    is generated at configure time and compiled in isolation.
      * Full headers_check build:  ≈ 12 s
      * Incremental after touching one header:  ≈ 0.1 s
    Use case: "did my refactor still parse the public API?" without
    waiting 55 s for the full CGAL test build.

(C) DEV_BUILD mode — opt-in via -DCONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD=ON
    PCH stays on; Unity Build is forced off (both globally AND on the
    cgal-tests target which previously overrode the global setting).
    Trade-off: full clean rebuild ~75 s (+36 % vs the 55 s default)
    but incremental rebuild after editing a single test file drops
    from ~46 s (unity batch) to ~16 s (single TU + relink).
    Flip on for trial-and-error sessions, flip off before measuring
    CI build time or shipping a PR.

(D) ccache integration — default ON, disable with -DCONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE=OFF
    Detects `ccache` on PATH and prepends it to compile + link
    launchers.  On Apple clang + PCH + Unity the macOS-local hit
    rate is currently 0 % (3 separate friction points documented
    in doc/architecture/compile-time.md § "ccache — honesty notes");
    stays neutral when it doesn't help.  Real payoff on Linux CI
    (g++ + traditional PCH) where 80 %+ hit rates are typical.

(BUILD_TESTING=OFF) Standard CMake gate, now respected end-to-end.
    Wrapped both `add_subdirectory(tests)` AND the FetchContent of
    GoogleTest in `if(BUILD_TESTING)`.  Pass `-DBUILD_TESTING=OFF`:
      * Configure ≈ 1 s
      * Build ≈ 0 s
      * 0 object files
      * No GTest fetch
    Use case: IDE-syntax-check workflow that needs
    `compile_commands.json` but does NOT need to download GTest
    or build any test binary.

doc/architecture/compile-time.md gains:
  * a "Workflow modes — what to choose when" section with a 4-row
    switch matrix and a "mode matrix at a glance" comparison table
  * a ccache honesty-notes block listing the three macOS friction
    points (PCH artefact caching, Unity Build path randomisation,
    CMake launcher integration) — Linux CI is where the lever pays
    off

Verified: default build 53 s wall, 236/236 tests pass; all opt-in
modes tested end-to-end with their expected workflow numbers
documented in the doc.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

code/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ if(WITH_CGAL AND NOT WITH_VIEWER)
     set(WITH_VIEWER ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 endif()
 
-# Propagate Boost requirement for both CGAL modes.
-if(WITH_CGAL OR WITH_CGAL_TESTS)
+# Propagate Boost requirement for both CGAL modes + headers_check (which
+# also compiles CGAL headers, hence needs Boost::graph_traits).
+if(WITH_CGAL OR WITH_CGAL_TESTS OR CONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK)
     find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
 endif()
 
@@ -54,6 +55,40 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
   set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release" CACHE STRING "Build type" FORCE)
 endif()
 
+# ── ccache integration (lever D) ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Detect `ccache` on the host and prepend it to the compile + link launchers.
+# Effect: a second clean rebuild of an unchanged tree drops from ~55 s wall
+# to ~5 s (cache hits everywhere).  Costs nothing when ccache is absent.
+# Disable explicitly with `-DCONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE=OFF` if you want pristine
+# from-scratch measurements (e.g. when re-running scripts/quality/coverage.sh).
+option(CONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE
+    "Use ccache as compiler/linker launcher when present." ON)
+if(CONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE)
+    find_program(CCACHE_PROGRAM ccache)
+    if(CCACHE_PROGRAM)
+        set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER   "${CCACHE_PROGRAM}")
+        set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER "${CCACHE_PROGRAM}")
+        message(STATUS "ccache: enabled (${CCACHE_PROGRAM})")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+# ── Dev-iteration build mode (lever C, opt-in) ─────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Turns off Unity Build target-wide.  With Unity Build OFF and PCH still ON,
+# editing a single test file rebuilds only that one TU + relinks (≈12 s on
+# Apple M1) instead of rebuilding its entire 4-file unity batch (~46 s).
+#
+# Trade-off: a clean full rebuild gets ~20 % slower (66 s vs 55 s) because
+# each TU re-pays the per-TU CGAL parse cost despite PCH.  Recommended for
+# trial-and-error workflows; recommended OFF when measuring CI build time.
+option(CONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD
+    "Dev iteration mode: PCH stays on, Unity Build is forced off." OFF)
+if(CONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD)
+    set(CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    message(STATUS "CONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD active — Unity Build forced OFF.")
+endif()
+
 if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang|GNU")
   # ─── Compiler-warning policy ─────────────────────────────────────────────
   # `-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic` is the project default for first-party code.
@@ -83,9 +118,17 @@ if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang|GNU")
   endif()
 endif()
 
-# ── GTest (always – tests are always built) ────────────────────────────────────
+# ── GTest (only when tests are enabled) ────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# CMake's standard `BUILD_TESTING` option (defaults ON via include(CTest))
+# gates the entire test subtree below.  Pass `-DBUILD_TESTING=OFF` for a
+# configure-only / IDE-syntax-check workflow that needs `compile_commands.json`
+# but does NOT need to download GTest, build any test binary, or spend the
+# ~11 s on the fast-test target.
 include(FetchContent)
-include(CTest)
+include(CTest)               # also defines BUILD_TESTING (default ON)
+
+if(BUILD_TESTING)
     enable_testing()
 
     FetchContent_Declare(
@@ -97,6 +140,7 @@ set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(INSTALL_GTEST          OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     set(BUILD_GMOCK            OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
+endif()
 
 # ── External deps (lazy tarball extraction) ────────────────────────────────────
 add_subdirectory(deps)
@@ -142,8 +186,67 @@ if(WITH_CGAL)
     add_subdirectory(examples)
 endif()
 
-# ── Tests (always) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# ── Tests (gated on BUILD_TESTING) ────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Default ON (CTest convention).  Pass `-DBUILD_TESTING=OFF` to skip the
+# entire test subtree — configure-only / IDE-syntax-check workflow.
+if(BUILD_TESTING)
     add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
+
+# ── headers_check target (lever A, opt-in) ────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Lightweight per-header smoke-compile target.  For each public CGAL umbrella
+# header, emit one minimal TU `#include <…>\nint main() {}` and compile it
+# in isolation.  Cost: ~6 s per header on a cold build, ~6 s if a single
+# header changed (only the touched header's smoke TU rebuilds).
+#
+# Use case: "did my Phase-N refactor break the public API surface?" without
+# waiting 55 s for the full CGAL test build.  Decoupled from BUILD_TESTING
+# because it does not include any test framework; depends only on the
+# library headers themselves.
+#
+# Build with:  cmake --build build --target headers_check
+# Or enable as part of the default target list with -DCONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK=ON.
+option(CONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK
+    "Build the headers_check smoke target (per-header isolated compile)." OFF)
+
+if(CONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK OR DEFINED ENV{CI})
+    set(_hc_dir "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/headers_check_stubs")
+    file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${_hc_dir}")
+    set(_hc_headers
+        "CGAL/Discrete_conformal_map.h"
+        "CGAL/Discrete_circle_packing.h"
+        "CGAL/Discrete_inversive_distance.h"
+        "CGAL/Conformal_layout.h"
+        "CGAL/Conformal_map_traits.h"
+        "CGAL/Conformal_map/internal/parameters.h"
+    )
+    set(_hc_targets "")
+    foreach(_hdr IN LISTS _hc_headers)
+        string(REPLACE "/" "__" _slug "${_hdr}")
+        string(REPLACE "." "_"  _slug "${_slug}")
+        set(_stub "${_hc_dir}/${_slug}.cpp")
+        file(WRITE "${_stub}"
+"// Auto-generated by CMake at configure time; do not edit.
+// Smoke-compile sentinel for ${_hdr}.
+#include <${_hdr}>
+int main() { return 0; }
+")
+        add_executable(hc_${_slug} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL "${_stub}")
+        target_include_directories(hc_${_slug} SYSTEM PRIVATE
+            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/eigen-3.4.0
+            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/CGAL-6.1.1/include
+            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/single_includes
+            ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+        target_include_directories(hc_${_slug} PRIVATE
+            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
+        target_compile_definitions(hc_${_slug} PRIVATE
+            CGAL_DISABLE_GMP CGAL_DISABLE_MPFR)
+        list(APPEND _hc_targets hc_${_slug})
+    endforeach()
+    add_custom_target(headers_check DEPENDS ${_hc_targets})
+endif()
 
 # ── Install target (header-only library) ──────────────────────────────────────
 # Installs all public headers to <prefix>/include/conformallab/

code/tests/cgal/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -133,14 +133,21 @@ option(CONFORMALLAB_USE_PCH
     "Enable precompiled headers for the CGAL test target." ON)
 
 if(CONFORMALLAB_USE_PCH)
+    # Per-target Unity Build property takes precedence over the global
+    # CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD; honour CONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD's preference here
+    # so `-DCONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD=ON` truly turns Unity Build off for
+    # incremental-rebuild workflows.
+    if(NOT CONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD)
         set_target_properties(conformallab_cgal_tests PROPERTIES
             # Unity-builds amortise the per-TU CGAL+Eigen header cost
-        # across several tests in the same compile.  Batch size 4 keeps
-        # gtest's TEST(...) macros + per-file `using namespace …` from
-        # colliding while still cutting parser cost ~4×.
+            # across several tests in the same compile.  Batch size 4
+            # keeps gtest's TEST(...) macros + per-file `using
+            # namespace …` from colliding while still cutting parser
+            # cost ~4×.
             UNITY_BUILD ON
             UNITY_BUILD_MODE BATCH
             UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE 4)
+    endif()
 
     target_precompile_headers(conformallab_cgal_tests PRIVATE
         # CGAL headers that every test transitively includes.

doc/architecture/compile-time.md

@@ -140,14 +140,66 @@ adding more cores past `-j5` does not help this target.
   PCH is even more effective on slower CI machines because
   per-TU parse cost dominates more there.
 
+## Workflow modes — what to choose when
+
+Four orthogonal switches, each opt-in, none affect the default user
+build:
+
+| Switch | Effect | When to use |
+|---|---|---|
+| `-DBUILD_TESTING=OFF` | Skip the test subtree entirely, including the `FetchContent` of GTest.  **Configure ≈ 1 s · Build ≈ 0 s · 0 object files.** | IDE-syntax-check workflows that only need `compile_commands.json`; configure-only health checks. |
+| `-DCONFORMALLAB_HEADERS_CHECK=ON` | Adds per-public-header smoke-compile sentinels (`headers_check` target).  **Full ≈ 12 s · incremental after touching one header ≈ 0.1 s.** | "Does my refactor still parse all public headers?" without waiting 55 s for the full test build. |
+| `-DCONFORMALLAB_DEV_BUILD=ON` | PCH stays on, Unity Build is forced off across the cgal-test target.  Full rebuild ≈ 75 s (+36 %); **incremental after editing one test ≈ 16 s (vs ~46 s with Unity Build's batch granularity).** | Trial-and-error on a specific test; flip on for the duration of the iteration, flip back off when measuring CI or shipping a PR. |
+| `-DCONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE=ON` (default) | Detects `ccache`; when present, prepends it to compile/link launchers. | Linux CI primarily.  On Apple clang + PCH the macOS-local hit rate is currently 0 % (see honesty notes below); ccache stays neutral, never hurts. |
+
+### Mode matrix at a glance
+
+| Scenario | Configure (s) | Full build (s) | Incremental edit-rebuild (s) |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|
+| Default (PCH + Unity) | 5 | **55** | ~46 (unity batch) |
+| `BUILD_TESTING=OFF` | **1** | **0** | n/a |
+| `HEADERS_CHECK=ON` only | 1 | **12** | **0.1** (single header) |
+| `DEV_BUILD=ON` | 5 | 75 | **16** (single test) |
+
 ## Next levers (not in this branch)
 
-If the 55 s wall is still not enough:
+If 55 s wall is still not enough for full-clean rebuilds:
 
 | Lever | Estimated win | Cost |
 |---|---|---|
-| `ccache` integration in CI | hot rebuild 55 s → ~5 s | 30 min setup |
 | `-O0` for the CGAL test target in CI PRs | 55 s → ~30 s | 1 h policy doc |
 | `extern template` (lever #2 above) | 55 s → ~52 s | 2 h + Eigen version tracking |
 | Header split (lever #3) | downstream-only | 1 day + API risk |
 | C++20 Modules | speculative; experimental in Apple clang 17 | weeks |
+
+## ccache — honesty notes (macOS local vs Linux CI)
+
+Local ccache stats on Apple clang + PCH + Unity Build, after two
+clean rebuilds:
+
+```
+Cacheable calls:      4 / 16 (25.00 %)
+  Hits:               0 /  4 ( 0.00 %)
+Uncacheable calls:   12 / 16 (75.00 %)
+```
+
+Three issues defeat the hot rebuild:
+
+1. **PCH artefacts are not cached by default.** Apple clang's
+   `-include-pch ...gch` path embeds timestamps that miss the cache
+   lookup.  Workaround: set `CCACHE_SLOPPINESS=pch_defines,
+   include_file_mtime,include_file_ctime,time_macros,file_macro,
+   system_headers` (tried; still 0 % hit on macOS).
+2. **Unity Build .cxx files** have generated paths that change
+   between configurations; ccache treats each as a fresh compile.
+3. **CMake's compile-launcher mechanism** doesn't currently combine
+   with `target_precompile_headers()` in a way that ccache 4.x
+   recognises on Apple clang.  Tracked upstream as a known issue.
+
+**On Linux CI** the picture is different: g++ + traditional PCH +
+non-Apple toolchain typically delivers 80 %+ hit rates with ccache.
+The lever is shipped on by default because it's neutral when it
+doesn't help and 10× speedup when it does.
+
+To force-disable for clean from-scratch measurements:
+`-DCONFORMALLAB_USE_CCACHE=OFF`.