Of course a full build is only needed every once in a while but single components take 1-3 Minutes to build as well.
I usually use the time to get coffee or put together a new playlist (listening to music 99% of the time).
No background compiles? Stable interfaces between classes?
On the server side however if you add new components, services or introduce new fields in existing entities you have to restart the JBoss and build the changed component.
It is enterprise, I'm working on the market-leading MES (Manufacturing Execution System) solution for the pharma- and biotech area. Our internal framework alone consists of around 3.700 classes.