[Mono-dev] Questions about the linear IR

[Rasmus Halland]

Hello,

I'm curious about the new linear IR versus the old tree IR. I have
read http://www.mono-project.com/Linear_IL, but I would like some more
background information, if someone would be so kind to enlighten me:

http://www.mono-project.com/Linear_IL contains some information about
data structures, some optimizations, benchmarks before and after
introducing the linear IR, and finally it lists a handful of
advantages of the "new" jit. But AFAICT, only the benchmarks and one
of the listed advantages relates directly to the linear
representation.

I would love it if someone would attempt to answer the following
questions about going linear:
 - Do common manipulations (e.g. vtype ops decomposition) and
optimizations (e.g. inlining, dce) become easier or better/more
efficient?
 - What gets harder?
 - Is it simply a superior representation?


Thanks for your time,
rasmus