Does this mean vale can only support 256 memory generations? Or is there a way to handle more? > The technique could theoretically also be used for RC'd langua

Does this mean vale can only support 256 memory generations? Or is there a way to handle more? > The technique could theoretically also be used for RC'd languages to allow taking references to the interior of objects, which (I believe) would help those languages close the gap between them and high-performance languages like Rust, Zig, Vale I don’t understand how it would make any difference. You would still need update the reference count, which is what makes rc expensive. It would make accessing slightly faster, because you don’t need to mask the top bits but that wouldn’t make up for the bigger cost.