Re: Type-based Optimizatoins? [was: tail calls [was: Vanishing MrEd]]

[Matthias Felleisen <matthias@cs.rice.edu>]

1. Check out Chez Scheme and Stalin, two Scheme compilers that have a
   better performance than MzScheme, which is an interpreter. 

2. Andrew Wright indeed tested the idea of using SoftScheme to produce
   better data representations in some Scheme. I think you can see a
   significant speed-up. Stalin does some of this, which is why Jeff
   (Siskind) claims to have one of the best Scheme compilers around. [He
   also claims to beat C/C++ on some things.]

3. Paul Steckler and Matthew have played with other optimizations in the
   context of mzc, using Cormac Flanagan's MrSpidey (and lighter weight
   analyses). 

4. When I saw the modified subject line, I thought you would ask a
   different question, namely, 

   is it possible to define a typed language in which one can only perform
   tail-calls due to the restrictions of the type language and can one then
   demonstrate that tail-call optimizations are type-directed optimizations
   `a la the CAML/TIL-TAL works? 

   Anyone? 

-- Matthias