Adrian Sampson: Flattening ASTs (and Other Compiler Data Structures)

Data structure flattening, particularly within ASTs (abstract syntax trees), can significantly enhance performance and ergonomics in compilers. By using arrays instead of pointers, flattening improves locality, reduces reference sizes, enables cheap allocation and deallocation, and simplifies lifetime management. These advantages result in substantial performance boosts. The post explains the implementation of a basic interpreter using both the traditional and flattened approaches, demonstrating the clear speed advantages of the latter.