PackageCompiler.jl is more fully featured, and I'm definitely looking forward to further developments :) But it still has some pain points:
* Massive executables (which you mentioned). This makes it very difficult to use with embedded systems.
* Functions are not precompiled by default. You need to write a precompile script [1], which leads to a "two script problem": one script to do what you actually want, and another script that (hopefully) hits all the types you'll possibly need at runtime. And yes you can use `--trace-compile=file.jl` or SnoopCompile.jl instead, but this is still another step I need to worry about when compiling something.
While the second part is true, it is a fundamental restriction because Julia compiles a method until it is actually hit and types are defined for the call stack. In equivalent manner, for StaticCompiler.jl you need a declarations of the methods/symbols you need to export. So, while it is true you need to do an extra step compared with other languages, it is not a fundamental problem with respect to PackageCompiler.jl, but rather a design restriction given how Julia works.
That's not a fundamental restriction or design problem with Julia, you're just describing JIT compilation. Plenty of languages can be compiled either ahead-of-time or just-in-time. Actually, this should be unusually easy for Julia, because their JIT compiler isn't a heuristic-based compiler like JITs for Python or JS.
The problem is funding. There are 0 full-time employees working on this issue because JuliaComputing has gotten about 10% of the funding Mojo has.
* Massive executables (which you mentioned). This makes it very difficult to use with embedded systems.
* Functions are not precompiled by default. You need to write a precompile script [1], which leads to a "two script problem": one script to do what you actually want, and another script that (hopefully) hits all the types you'll possibly need at runtime. And yes you can use `--trace-compile=file.jl` or SnoopCompile.jl instead, but this is still another step I need to worry about when compiling something.
[1]: https://julialang.github.io/PackageCompiler.jl/dev/sysimages...