So let's assume we mean C as a target, in the way one might target LLVM IR. What LLVM IR offers over C11 or C20 is a great deal more tools to describe to the co

So let's assume we mean C as a target, in the way one might target LLVM IR. What LLVM IR offers over C11 or C20 is a great deal more tools to describe to the compiler how one might engage in micro-optimizations. Ie, linkage[0], lifetime[1], and ordering[2] information can be critical to delivering performance. Now that said, GCC is _pretty damned amazing_ at squeezing out this information from C, and it's available for use just about everywhere. But it's good at figuring it out for _hand-written_ C. The sort of C that's generated as a compilation output from other languages, like Chicken Scheme and Nim, may not be written in a way that allows the C compiler to fully take advantage of its optimization abilities. What I find with generated C is that it often is prone to blowing the stack or missing cache far more than hand-written C would. There's often something funky happening (Cheney-on-the-MTA) or it's a soup of function pointers and object references scattered haphazardly across memory. 0: https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#linkage-types https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#linkage-types 1: https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#object-lifetime https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#object-lifetime 2: https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#memory-model-for-concurrent-operations https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#memory-model-for-concurre...