docs/footer.markdown @ 72bbdd515725

Rewrite the compiler

A few days ago I found a bug in the compiler that I decided merited basically an
entire rewrite of it.

This was long overdue.  The compiler kind of grew organically and unhealthily
over time as I wrapped my head around how the whole WAM is structured, and now
that I understand a lot more I can do things right.

This new implementation is a lot "flatter" than the old one.  It makes use of
CLOS classes and generic methods to un-nest a lot of the crap that was
previously happening in bigass `labels` blocks.  This is a lot easier to read
and understand because you can take things a piece at a time.

Unfortunately, it's currently a lot slower than the old one.  But at least it's
*correct*, and now I can start taking a look at optimizing the performance with
a cleaner base to start from.

Notes/ideas for the near future:

* Switch to structs instead of CLOS classes for all the bits and bobs in the
  compilation process.
* Inline hot functions in the compilation process.
* Type hint the fucking compiler already.  I've put this off for far too long.
* Move the compiler to its own package for easier profiling and to maintain my
  shreds of sanity.
* Look into that generic-function-inlining library thing I saw on Reddit...
* Remove the last vestiges of `match` and kill the dependency on optima.

<i>Made with Lisp and love by [Steve Losh][] in Reykjavík, Iceland.</i>

[Steve Losh]: http://stevelosh.com/

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