Re: Weird byte-compiler tests
Jan Vroonhof <vroonhof(a)math.ethz.ch> writes:
> Does anyone remember what these tests were supposed to do,
To illustrate a few problems with too aggressive optimizing by the
byte-compiler.
Oh. Yes. Now I remember.
One thing is, we haven't really agreed the marker behaviour were
problems. Should (+ <marker> 0) really be guaranteed to convert a
marker to integer? Is it acceptable that it hoses all other
optimizations for that special case?
I've always considered the marker arithmetics a relic from ancient
times when someone thought it oh-so-cool to be able to increment a
marker or compare it to a number or another marker without bothering
to call `marker-position'. The marker arithmetics is important for
backward compatibility, but in this case we can just as well document
that the result types should not be relied on; they are numerically
correct, but their type cannot be known in advance and can depend on
whether the code is interpreted or compiled.