From 4018eb87ed54c8f71bbf20fd4b0d0435adde844d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Yogthos <yogthos@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:03:28 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Const-link stable vars under whole-program; direct-link
 cfunction roots
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direct-var? now treats a cfunction root the same as a function root, so a
call/ref to a native fn (clojure.math/sqrt et al.) embeds the value instead of
a per-call cell deref. This was the hot indirection in the ray tracer — sqrt
runs every bounce — and it applies in every direct-link build, not just
whole-program.

const-link? is new and whole-program-only: in a closed world every non-dynamic
var has a stable root, so embed it as a constant (quoted unless it's already
callable) rather than reading the cell each reference. Covers what direct-var?
can't — ^:redef vars (reloading is off under the flag), data defs, and record
type/ctor roots. Dynamic vars stay indirect; a nil (not-yet-defined) root stays
indirect and the whole-program re-emit picks it up once the root is in place.

Measured on the records ray tracer: hot-path indirect refs (sqrt + data vars)
gone; the only indirect refs left are cold defrecord self-references. whole-
program-test now also checks a ^:redef fn and a data def so the per-ns vs
whole-program comparison guards const-link soundness.
---
 src/jolt/backend.janet                    | 28 +++++++++++++++++++++--
 test/integration/whole-program-test.janet |  7 +++++-
 2 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/jolt/backend.janet b/src/jolt/backend.janet
index c2abfb6..157f784 100644
--- a/src/jolt/backend.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/backend.janet
@@ -123,7 +123,24 @@
   (and (get (ctx :env) :direct-linking?)
        (not (cell :dynamic))
        (not (let [m (cell :meta)] (and m (get m :redef))))
-       (function? (cell :root))))
+       (let [r (cell :root)] (or (function? r) (cfunction? r)))))
+
+# Whole-program constant-linking (closed world): under JOLT_WHOLE_PROGRAM every
+# non-dynamic var has a stable root we can embed as a CONSTANT, eliminating the
+# per-reference cell deref the indirect path pays. This covers what direct-var?
+# can't: ^:redef vars (no reloading under the flag, so redef is moot), data vars
+# (def of a number/vector/etc.), and record-type / non-fn callable roots. The
+# value is quoted at the emit site unless it's callable (a function/cfunction is
+# valid in head AND value position as-is). Dynamic vars stay indirect — thread
+# binding is a runtime mechanism, not redefinition. A nil root (a not-yet-run
+# forward def) stays indirect so the live deref picks the value up; the
+# whole-program re-emit (infer-program!, callee-first after full load) then
+# const-links it once its root is in place.
+(defn- const-link? [ctx cell]
+  (and (get (ctx :env) :whole-program?)
+       (get (ctx :env) :direct-linking?)
+       (not (cell :dynamic))
+       (not (nil? (cell :root)))))
 
 # Fresh Janet symbol for back-end-introduced bindings (arity dispatch). NOT
 # Janet's `gensym` — `(use ./core)` shadows it with Jolt's, which returns a jolt
@@ -579,6 +596,13 @@
       :var (let [cell (cell-for ctx (node :ns) (node :name))]
              (if (direct-var? ctx cell)
                (cell :root)                          # direct link: embed the fn value
+             (if (const-link? ctx cell)
+               # whole-program closed world: embed the stable root as a constant.
+               # Callable roots go in bare (valid in head/value position); any
+               # other value is quoted so Janet returns it rather than evaluating
+               # it as code (a bare tuple/struct in code position would be called).
+               (let [r (cell :root)]
+                 (if (or (function? r) (cfunction? r)) r (tuple 'quote r)))
                # Indirect: live deref, with the var-get FN CALL inlined away
                # (jolt-8sq): a non-dynamic var's value is always its root, so
                # the common case is two native table ops + a branch instead of
@@ -597,7 +621,7 @@
                (let [qcell (tuple 'quote cell)]
                  ['if ['in qcell :dynamic]
                    (tuple var-get qcell)
-                   ['in qcell :root]])))
+                   ['in qcell :root]]))))
       # (var x): the var object itself (not its value) — the embedded cell, by
       # reference. binding keys its thread-binding frame on this exact cell.
       :the-var (tuple 'quote (cell-for ctx (node :ns) (node :name)))
diff --git a/test/integration/whole-program-test.janet b/test/integration/whole-program-test.janet
index ba8aea9..3839f65 100644
--- a/test/integration/whole-program-test.janet
+++ b/test/integration/whole-program-test.janet
@@ -13,10 +13,15 @@
   (spit (string dir "/wputil.clj")
         (string "(ns wputil)\n"
                 "(defrecord V [x y z])\n"
+                # const-link targets (jolt-rvt): a data def and a ^:redef fn are
+                # indirect (cell deref) per-ns but embedded as constants under
+                # whole-program. Soundness => both modes must give the same answer.
+                "(def scale 2.0)\n"
+                "(defn ^:redef bump [x] (+ x 1.0))\n"
                 # recursive => never inlined; params proven only whole-program
                 "(defn dot [a b n]\n"
                 "  (if (<= n 0) 0.0\n"
-                "    (+ (* (:x a) (:x b)) (* (:y a) (:y b)) (* (:z a) (:z b)) (dot a b (dec n)))))\n"))
+                "    (+ (* (:x a) (:x b)) (* (:y a) (:y b)) (* (:z a) (:z b)) (bump (* scale (dot a b (dec n)))))))\n"))
   (spit (string dir "/wpmain.clj")
         (string "(ns wpmain (:require [wputil :as v]))\n"
                 "(defn -main []\n"