Dense Arena Interning: The Engine of Compiler Performance

I implemented a Dense Arena Interner to eliminate repeated string comparisons in compilers. By converting identifiers into dense integers during lexing, subsequent phases rely on fast O(1) array indexing and pointer checks. This approach shifts the hashing cost to a single phase, dramatically accelerating the entire compilation pipeline from parsing to optimization.

"The problem isn't just matching strings or comparing type signatures—it's doing it over and over again across the entire pipeline."