The -r option specifies that any source files listed are to be compiled to *.asm/*.c/*.ll files, depending on the used code generation backend, and not compiled or linked into an executable.

When using the -r option, -m must be specified when compiling the main module.

Use the -R option to preserve intermediate files without affecting compilation/assembling/linking.
Use the -rr option to compile input source files to *.asm regardless of the code generation backend.