You're basically right. LLVM performs optimizations that mxmlc doesn't, and you don't lose those optimizations during the as3 compilation step because Alchemy s

You're basically right. LLVM performs optimizations that mxmlc doesn't, and you don't lose those optimizations during the as3 compilation step because Alchemy ships with a modified as3 compiler that lets you inline opcodes (output by Adobe's LLVM backend). You've actually always been able to optimize your AS to this degree, but you have to deal with the esoteric details of AVM2 bytecode, which, obviously, is not alot of fun.