[pag]

One unusual thing is that, at least for the curl example binary, the pre-built installable version is an x86 one and not an x86-64 one.

From briefly looking at the assembly, it seems like each variable or stack object has metadata associated with it in the stack frame. Some of this metadata seems pretty heavyweight, e.g. having `0xDEADBEEF` as a magic constant, what looks like the size, a pointer to a global variable, etc. One worry is that this metadata appears adjacent to memory it protects.

I wonder if it would be easier to just make all local variables into heap allocations and handle things uniformly there. This would make it easier to upgrade the runtime in the future without requiring recompilation.

[stensal]

Nice try bro! That will make C like Java, it will not happen. C should be like just C.

[pag]

I think you could produce much better machine code by "templatizing" the stack allocations into function-specific pattern variables, passed to a single alloca-like function which uses the template to figure out how much stack space to allocate, displaces the stack pointer, and sets up all your metadata in one swoop. Also, this would improve the upgradability of the runtime/metadata, as it would be decoupled.

[stensal]

Heap is a centralized resource. Each allocation/free will have to acquire/release lock. It's much more costly than stack allocation/deallocation. You might get more efficient machine code, but using heap will likely cost more.

Hope this clarify what I meant your idea will make C like Java.