How does the native-image build process work end-to-end?

The build pipeline can be thought of as several sequential phases.

flowchart TD
  A[Classpath + entry point] --> B[Points-to static analysis]
  B --> C[Build-time class initialization]
  C --> D[Universe/heap snapshot creation]
  D --> E[AOT compilation via Graal compiler]
  E --> F[Linking with Substrate VM runtime]
  F --> G[Native executable]

1. Points-to analysis starts from the main method and iteratively discovers every reachable class, method, and field, folding in whatever reflection/resource config was supplied.
2. Class initialization runs eagerly for classes marked build-time, baking their state into an initial heap snapshot.
3. AOT compilation then compiles all reachable methods using the Graal compiler, this time working in ahead-of-time mode instead of JIT mode.
4. Linking combines the compiled code with the Substrate VM runtime (GC, threading) into one native binary.

Any reflective call, resource load, or dynamic proxy that the points-to analysis can't statically resolve either needs explicit configuration or causes the build to fail (or fall back) depending on the flags used.