2017-03-23 | Paul Boddie | raw annotate files changeset graph | Represent integers as __attr values with bit 0 set. Since pointers must be aligned (to four-byte boundaries on many modern systems, maybe two-byte boundaries on older or embedded systems, eight-byte boundaries on some 64-bit systems), any value with bit 0 set will not be referencing an object. This avoids allocating objects for integers and instead just allows them to be passed around. Bit 0 needs to be tested when attributes are accessed, and for integers, a common instance is employed to provide any instance attributes, an instance table reference and a reference to the integer class. | integers-as-tagged-attrs |