Generally, the load instruction may need to make a copy of an
isByRef=true value, such as in the case of the following code:
```zig
pub fn swap(comptime T: type, a: *T, b: *T) void {
const tmp = a.*;
a.* = b.*;
b.* = tmp;
}
```
However, it only needs to do so if there are any instructions which can
possibly write to memory. When calling functions with isByRef=true
parameters, the AIR code that is generated looks like loads followed
directly by call.
This allows for a peephole optimization when lowering loads: if the load
instruction operates on an isByRef=true type and dies before any side effects
occur, then we can safely lower the load as a no-op that returns its
operand.
This is one out of three changes I intend to make to address #11498.
However I will put these changes in separate branches and merge them
separately so that we can have three independent points on the perf
charts.
A general-purpose programming language and toolchain for maintaining robust, optimal, and reusable software.
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- Chapter 0 - Getting Started | ZigLearn.org
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- Frequently Asked Questions
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The ultimate goal of the Zig project is to serve users. As a first-order effect, this means users of the compiler, helping programmers to write better software. Even more important, however, are the end-users.
Zig is intended to be used to help end-users accomplish their goals. Zig should be used to empower end-users, never to exploit them financially, or to limit their freedom to interact with hardware or software in any way.
However, such problems are best solved with social norms, not with software licenses. Any attempt to complicate the software license of Zig would risk compromising the value Zig provides.
Therefore, Zig is available under the MIT (Expat) License, and comes with a humble request: use it to make software better serve the needs of end-users.
This project redistributes code from other projects, some of which have other licenses besides MIT. Such licenses are generally similar to the MIT license for practical purposes. See the subdirectories and files inside lib/ for more details.