Generally, the load instruction may need to make a copy of an
isByRef=true value, such as in the case of the following code:
```zig
pub fn swap(comptime T: type, a: *T, b: *T) void {
const tmp = a.*;
a.* = b.*;
b.* = tmp;
}
```
However, it only needs to do so if there are any instructions which can
possibly write to memory. When calling functions with isByRef=true
parameters, the AIR code that is generated looks like loads followed
directly by call.
This allows for a peephole optimization when lowering loads: if the load
instruction operates on an isByRef=true type and dies before any side effects
occur, then we can safely lower the load as a no-op that returns its
operand.
This is one out of three changes I intend to make to address #11498.
However I will put these changes in separate branches and merge them
separately so that we can have three independent points on the perf
charts.
d410693dadAndrew Kelley committed on 5/31/2022, 6:17:54 PMparent26aea8c