[MrBuddyCasino]

Interesting use case, didn't occur to me that tail calls can also just be a performance optimisation technique to help out the compiler and branch predictor. I assumed hot loops could be implemented just as well using GOTOs, but maybe not?

[chriswarbo]

> I assumed hot loops could be implemented just as well using GOTOs, but maybe not?

Tail calls are GOTOs; that's the whole argument https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA030751

[blagie]

Everything can be implemented using IF statements and GOTOs. That's how early processors worked, and Turing completeness and all. We don't _really_ need function calls, while loops, or for loops either.

That doesn't mean it's a good idea.

[HALtheWise]

In the particular linked case of protobuf parsing, a loop with goto's doesn't produce very well optimized code because of specific internal details about how modern C compilers do optimizations. You could certainly imagine a compiler that can fully optimize a go-to heavy program, in which case the code cleanliness argument would be the only reason.

[vgatherps]

Tail calls are basically GOTOs, yeah. The bring a HUGE benefit of very clearly defining state flow between gotos which makes the compiler's job super easy.