Try incremental analysis before limiting invalidation.

pkg/analyzer/lib/src/generated/incremental_resolver.dart

 // Copyright (c) 2014, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
 // for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
 // BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 library engine.incremental_resolver;
 
 import 'dart:collection';
 import 'dart:math' as math;
 
 import 'package:analyzer/src/context/cache.dart'
@@ skipping 343 matching lines @@
       _assertSameAnnotations(node, element);
       _assertEquals(node.isStatic, element.isStatic);
       _assertSameType(node.returnType, element.returnType);
       _assertCompatibleParameters(node.parameters, element.parameters);
       _assertBody(node.body, element);
       _removedElements.remove(element);
       // matches, update the existing element
       node.name.staticElement = element;
       _setLocalElements(element, newElement);
     } on _DeclarationMismatchException {
-      _addedElements.add(newElement);
       _removeElement(element);
       // add new element
-      if (newElement is MethodElement) {
-        List<MethodElement> methods = _enclosingClass.methods;
-        methods.add(newElement);
-        _enclosingClass.methods = methods;
-      } else {
-        List<PropertyAccessorElement> accessors = _enclosingClass.accessors;
-        accessors.add(newElement);
-        _enclosingClass.accessors = accessors;
+      if (newElement != null) {
+        _addedElements.add(newElement);
+        if (newElement is MethodElement) {
+          List<MethodElement> methods = _enclosingClass.methods;
+          methods.add(newElement);
+          _enclosingClass.methods = methods;
+        } else {
+          List<PropertyAccessorElement> accessors = _enclosingClass.accessors;
+          accessors.add(newElement);
+          _enclosingClass.accessors = accessors;
+        }
       }
     }
   }
 
   @override
   visitPartDirective(PartDirective node) {
     String uri = _getStringValue(node.uri);
     if (uri != null) {
       CompilationUnitElement element =
           _findUriReferencedElement(_enclosingLibrary.parts, uri);
@@ skipping 398 matching lines @@
     for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
       if (identical(elements[i], element)) {
         elements.removeAt(i);
         return;
       }
     }
   }
 
   static void _setLocalElements(
       ExecutableElementImpl to, ExecutableElement from) {
-    to.functions = from.functions;
-    to.labels = from.labels;
-    to.localVariables = from.localVariables;
-    to.parameters = from.parameters;
+    if (from != null) {
+      to.functions = from.functions;
+      to.labels = from.labels;
+      to.localVariables = from.localVariables;
+      to.parameters = from.parameters;
+    }
   }
 }
 
 /**
  * Describes how declarations match an existing elements model.
  */
 class DeclarationMatchKind {
   /**
    * Complete match, no API changes.
    */
@@ skipping 581 matching lines @@
               logger.log('Failure: changes in constant constructor initializers'
                   ' may cause external changes in constant objects.');
               return false;
             }
             if (oldParent is FunctionDeclaration &&
                     newParent is FunctionDeclaration ||
                 oldParent is MethodDeclaration &&
                     newParent is MethodDeclaration ||
                 oldParent is ConstructorDeclaration &&
                     newParent is ConstructorDeclaration) {
-              oldNode = oldParent;
-              newNode = newParent;
-              found = true;
+              Element oldElement = (oldParent as Declaration).element;
+              if (new DeclarationMatcher().matches(newParent, oldElement) ==
+                  DeclarationMatchKind.MATCH) {
+                oldNode = oldParent;
+                newNode = newParent;
+                found = true;
+              }
             }
             if (oldParent is FunctionBody && newParent is FunctionBody) {
               oldNode = oldParent;
               newNode = newParent;
               found = true;
               break;
             }
           }
           if (!found) {
             logger.log('Failure: no enclosing function body or executable.');
@@ skipping 585 matching lines @@
   @override
   String toString() => name;
 }
 
 class _TokenPair {
   final _TokenDifferenceKind kind;
   final Token oldToken;
   final Token newToken;
   _TokenPair(this.kind, this.oldToken, this.newToken);
 }