Proper tail recursion elimination would require changing the *normal*
function call protocol. I suspect you're thinking of a smaller-scale
version of it specifically tailored to self-recursion, kind of like
what `named-let` provides. Note that such ad-hoc TCO tends to hit the same
semantic issues as the -O3 optimization of the native compiler.
E.g. in code like the following:
(defun vc-foo-register (file)
(when (some-hint-is-true)
(load "vc-foo")
(vc-foo-register file)))
the final call to `vc-foo-register` is in tail position but is not
a self call because loading `vc-foo` is expected to redefine
`vc-foo-register` with the real implementation.
I'm only talking about the steps that are required to allow the compiler to
produce code that implements proper tail recursion.
With the abstract machine currently implemented by the byte-code VM,
the "call[n]" instructions will always be needed to call out according to
the C calling conventions.
The call[-absolute/relative] or [goto-absolute] instructions I suggested
*would be* used in the "normal" function-call protocol in place of the current
funcall dispatch, at least to functions defined in lisp.
This is necessary but not sufficient for proper tail recursion.
To actually get proper tail recursion requires the compiler to use the instructions
for implementing the appropriate function call protocol, especially if
"goto-absolute" is the instruction provided for changing the PC register.
Other instructions would have to be issued to manage the stack frame
explicitly if that were the route taken. Or, a more CISCish call-absolute
type of instruction could be used that would perform that stack frame
management implicitly.
EIther way, it's the compiler that has to determine whether a return
instruction following a control transfer can be safely eliminated or not.
If the "goto-absolute" instruction were used, the compiler would
have to decide whether the address following the "goto-absolute"
should be pushed in a new frame, or if it can be "pre-emptively
garbage collected" at compile time because it's a tail call.