Direct-threaded code

Assess

Techniques

An interpreter dispatch technique that uses direct jumps or calls between handlers.

Why it's here

Placed in Assess: 1 article(s) of evidence from 1 source(s), led by research-stage coverage, with 1 in the last 30 days. Confidence 24%. Low accumulated evidence, so it defaults conservatively pending more signal.

Evidence (1)

4Hacker News·8/10/2026research
Tail-call optimization in C is now practical in GCC and Clang
The post argues that tail-call optimization in C was historically limited by calling-convention constraints and was not broadly available in older compilers. It notes that modern GCC and Clang can now perform the kind of tail calls needed for interpreter dispatch, enabling techniques such as direct-threaded code and large-scale snippet generation. The discussion cites Gforth and WebAssembly interpreter implementations as examples of why this matters.