[kaz-inc]

I'll take the bait.

Do you distinguish between writing a compiler and writing an optimizing compiler, and if so, how is writing an optimizing compiler an extinct art?

Equality saturation, domination graphs, chordal register allocation, hardware-software codesign, etc there are many new avenues of research for compilers, and these are just the ones on the top of my head that are relevant to my work. Most optimization work is R&D and much of it is left unimplemented at scale, and things like the phase-ordering problem and IR validation are hard to do in practice, even given ample resources and time.