RFR: 8372634: C2: Materialize type information from instanceof checks

[Vladimir Ivanov]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2025 01:02:51 GMT, ExE Boss <duke at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> Even though `instanceof` check (and reflective `Class.isInstance` call) narrows operand's type, sharpened type information is not explicitly materialized in the IR.
>> 
>> There's a `SubTypeCheck` node present, but it is not a substitute for a `CheckCastPP` node with a proper type.
>> 
>> The difference can be illustrated with the following simple cases:
>> 
>>    class A { void m() {} }
>>    class B extends A { void m() {} }
>> 
>>     void testInstanceOf(A obj) {
>>         if (obj instanceof B) {
>>             obj.m();
>>         }
>>     }
>> 
>> InstanceOf::testInstanceOf (12 bytes)
>>   @ 8 InstanceOf$A::m (0 bytes) failed to inline: virtual call
>> 
>> vs
>> 
>>     void testInstanceOfCast(A obj) {
>>         if (obj instanceof B) {
>>             B b = (B)obj;
>>             b.m();
>>         }
>>     }
>> 
>> InstanceOf::testInstanceOfCast (17 bytes)
>>   @ 13 InstanceOf$B::m (1 bytes) inline (hot)
>> 
>> 
>> Proposed fix annotates operands of subtype checks with proper type information which reflects the effects of subtype check. Not-yet-canonicalized IR shape poses some challenges, but I decided to match it early so information is available right away, rather than waiting for IGVN pass and delay inlining to post-parse phase.
>> 
>> FTR it is not a complete fix. It works for trivial cases, but for more complex conditions the IR shape becomes too complex during parsing (as illustrated by some test cases). I experimented with annotating subtype checks after initial parsing pass is over, but the crucial simplification step happens as part of split-if transformation which happens when no more inlining is possible. So, the only possible benefit (without forcing split-if optimization earlier) is virtual-to-direct call strength reduction. I plan to explore it separately.
>> 
>> Testing: hs-tier1 - hs-tier5
>
> test/hotspot/jtreg/compiler/inlining/TestSubtypeCheckTypeInfo.java line 323:
> 
>> 321:     static boolean lateInlineIsInstanceCondPost(A o, boolean cond) {
>> 322:         return B.class.isInstance(o) && cond;
>> 323:     }
> 
> What about the non‑late version of these methods?

There are corresponding test cases (`testInstanceOfCondPre` et al) where conditions are embedded.

The idea of `testInstanceOfCondLate` and similar test cases is to check how inlining works when condition improves receiver type during incremental inlining phase.

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PR Review Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/28517#discussion_r2566881862