This simple plug-in for Unity’s Editor logs how long it takes to compile script changes and perform domain reloads to quickly spot potential issues that can affect iteration times. I’m not sure why Unity doesn’t already expose this as a preference, but, with the help of a few events, it’s possible to do ourselves.

// Copyright 2021 by Hextant Studios. https://HextantStudios.com
// This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
using System;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEditor.Compilation;

namespace Hextant.Editor
{
    // Logs the time taken to perform script compilations and domain reloads.
    public sealed class LogCompileTimes : EditorSingleton<LogCompileTimes>
    {
        [InitializeOnLoadMethod]
        static void OnLoad() => Initialize();

        void OnEnable()
        {
            // Register for script compilation events.
            CompilationPipeline.compilationStarted += OnCompilationStarted;
            CompilationPipeline.compilationFinished += OnCompilationFinished;

            // Register for domain reload events.
            AssemblyReloadEvents.beforeAssemblyReload += OnBeforeAssemblyReload;
            AssemblyReloadEvents.afterAssemblyReload += OnAfterAssemblyReload;
        }

        void OnDisable()
        {
            // Unregister for script compilation events.
            CompilationPipeline.compilationStarted -= OnCompilationStarted;
            CompilationPipeline.compilationFinished -= OnCompilationFinished;

            // Unregister for domain reload events.
            AssemblyReloadEvents.beforeAssemblyReload -= OnBeforeAssemblyReload;
            AssemblyReloadEvents.afterAssemblyReload -= OnAfterAssemblyReload;
        }

        void OnCompilationStarted( object value ) =>
            _compilationStart = DateTime.Now.Ticks;

        void OnCompilationFinished( object value ) =>
            _compilationTime = DateTime.Now.Ticks - _compilationStart;

        void OnBeforeAssemblyReload() =>
            _reloadStart = DateTime.Now.Ticks;

        void OnAfterAssemblyReload()
        {
            // Return if the assembly was reloaded before timers were started.
            if( _compilationTime == 0 || _reloadStart == 0 ) return;

            var compilation = new TimeSpan( _compilationTime );
            var reload = new TimeSpan( DateTime.Now.Ticks - _reloadStart );
            Debug.Log( $"Script compilation: {compilation.TotalSeconds:F3}s, " +
                $"Domain reload: {reload.TotalSeconds:F3}s, " +
                $"Total: {( compilation + reload ).TotalSeconds:F3}s " );
            _compilationTime = 0;
        }

        // The time (in ticks) when the script compilation started.
        long _compilationStart;

        // The total time (in ticks) taken for script compilation.
        long _compilationTime;

        // The time (in ticks) when the domain reload started.
        long _reloadStart;
    }
}

This class derives from our previously discussed EditorSingleton base class to persist the time a domain reload begins as well as the time taken to compile script changes before the reload.

To track the time taken for script recompiles, the plug-in uses the CompilationPipeline API’s compilationStarted and compilationFinished events and then stores the elapsed time in the _compilationTime field in order to log a total time later once the domain reload completes.

To track the time taken to reload the domain, the plug-in uses the AssemblyReloadEvents API’s beforeAssemblyReload and afterAssemblyReload events. Once the domain finishes reloading, the plug-in logs both times as well as the total time taken.

To use it, download the zip file below and add the files to your project. Then, whenever Unity recompiles your source code, it will log the times taken to compile and reload assemblies to the Console window in the editor.

Download