cmd/compile: use masks instead of branches for slicing
When we do
var x []byte = ...
y := x[i:]
We can't just use y.ptr = x.ptr + i, as the new pointer may point to the
next object in memory after the backing array.
We used to fix this by doing:
y.cap = x.cap - i
delta := i
if y.cap == 0 {
delta = 0
}
y.ptr = x.ptr + delta
That generates a branch in what is otherwise straight-line code.
Better to do:
y.cap = x.cap - i
mask := (y.cap - 1) >> 63 // -1 if y.cap==0, 0 otherwise
y.ptr = x.ptr + i &^ mask
It's about the same number of instructions (~4, depending on what
parts are constant, and the target architecture), but it is all
inline. It plays nicely with CSE, and the mask can be computed
in parallel with the index (in cases where a multiply is required).