traditional mathematical proofs can be hard to reason about. i propose a new method of proof: proof by compiler optimisation.
consider this proof that n * 1 = n and n ^ 0 = 1 for all reasonable values of n.
![compiler explorer screenshot.
the left pane displays the following rust source code:
#[unsafe(no_mangle)]
pub fn main() -> u8 {
for i in 0..=u32::MAX {
if i * 1 != i {
panic!("oh dear!");
}
if i.pow(0) != 1 {
panic!("oh no!");
}
}
0
}
the right pane displays the following compiler/assembler output:
main:
xor eax, eax
ret](https://wasabi.lynnesbian.space/the-slum-bucket/media_attachments/files/115/952/377/671/873/902/original/c2399f1bf481e902.png)
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