alt Hacker NewsI don't see how a hypothetical __attribute__((never_spill)) annotation on local variables would preclude splitting opcode logic into separate functions. It just means those functions would have to be inlined into the interpreter loop to avoid conflicts with calling convention constraints.
Agreed -- I'm just saying that the tail call pattern doesn't seem so bad to me. The shape it imposes on your code doesn't detract from readability in my opinion.