Staged Allocation:
A Compositional Technique for
Specifying and Implementing Procedure
Calling Conventions
We present staged allocation, a technique for specifying calling
conventions by composing tiny allocators called stages.
A specification written using staged allocation has a precise, formal
semantics, and it can be executed directly inside a compiler.
Specifications of nine standard C calling conventions range in size from 15 to 30
lines each.
An implementation of staged allocation takes about 250 lines of ML or
650 lines of C++.
Each specification can be used not only to help a compiler implement
the calling convention but also to generate a test suite.
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