My Apple compiler started as an experiment in what I would implement as compiler for an array system. Several parts did not pan out so I offer my warnings and advice to other array language implementers.
Haskell programmers have an undue reputation for writing obfuscated code, perhaps due to the fondness for pointfree code and higher-order functions. However the commitment to terseness is dubious at best; syntax is rarely exploited.
Functions are compiled to machine by a convention of jumps and
registers; one calls a function by jumping to its
location in memory. These jumps are relative and particular functions (say,
malloc) may be loaded at different memory locations, so the machine code for
a function cannot be pinned down and in fact is contingent on every function
that it calls.
Building a respectable compiler requires basic blocks in order for liveness analysis to be performant. Consider my own Apple compiler:
I previously wrote about typing elliptic fourier series; my Apple compiler is now capable of computing the offsets and also the relevant coefficients.
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