fix: literal arrays are memcpy-ed instead of stored, non constant arrays are unrolled

[ghaith]

Literal array values are now memcpy-ed
Arrays with non-constant values are converted into single assignments (or for loop assignments for multipication assignments)

For Reviewers: I mostly vibed this (with some steering/guidance), pay extra attention to the review

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR updates the compiler’s handling of array initializers by emitting memcpy from a materialized global for constant aggregate literals, and introducing a lowering pass that rewrites non-constant array literals into indexed assignments / FOR loops (including external POU constructor wiring behavior).

Changes:

• Materialize constant array/struct literals as anonymous .const_init globals and initialize via llvm.memcpy to avoid large inline aggregate stores.
• Add array_lowering pass to lower non-constant array literal initializers into element assignments / loops, integrated into the driver pipeline.
• Add extensive lit + IR + Rust snapshot tests covering constant vs non-constant arrays, multiplied segments, REF/ADR cases, and external ctor scenarios.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 34 out of 34 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
tests/lit/single/init/array_variable_elements.st	New lit test for non-constant variable element array lowering behavior.
tests/lit/single/init/array_ref_elements.st	New lit test for arrays initialized with REF() calls.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_variable_override.st	New lit test for overriding type-initialized arrays with multiplied literals.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_type_init.st	New lit test for type-level multiplied array initializer.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_struct_elements.st	New lit test for multiplied array init with struct literals.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_partial_init.st	New lit test for partial multiplied init and defaulting remainder.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_nonzero_offset.st	New lit test for non-zero-based array bounds with multiplied init.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_mixed_init.st	New lit test for mixed multiplied segments + explicit tail values.
tests/lit/single/init/array_multiplied_large.st	New lit test stressing large constant array init.
tests/lit/single/init/array_mixed_ref_segments.st	New lit test for mixed multiplied segments with REF() calls.
tests/lit/single/init/array_external_type_init.st	New lit test for type-level init correctness in external/global blocks.
tests/lit/multi/extern_fb_array_ctor_wiring/run.test	New split-compilation lit harness for external FB ctor + const array init.
tests/lit/multi/extern_fb_array_ctor_wiring/main.st	Consumer side of split-compilation test verifying ctor wiring.
tests/lit/multi/extern_fb_array_ctor_wiring/lit.local.cfg	Custom lit config to compile/link C FB body + ctor-only object.
tests/lit/multi/extern_fb_array_ctor_wiring/header.pli	External FB declaration with constant array initializer.
tests/lit/multi/extern_fb_array_ctor_wiring/fb_body.c	C implementation of external FB body for split-compilation scenario.
tests/lit/ir_tests/external_fb_array_no_init_globals.st	IR test: external FB without external-ctor generation should not emit init globals.
tests/lit/ir_tests/external_fb_array_const_init.st	IR test: with external ctor generation, should emit .const_init + memcpy in ctor.
src/tests/adr/arrays_adr.rs	Update expected IR to use .const_init + llvm.memcpy instead of inline aggregate stores.
src/codegen/tests/snapshots/rusty__codegen__tests__function_tests__function_call_with_array_access.snap	Snapshot update for memcpy-based constant aggregate initialization.
src/codegen/tests/snapshots/rusty__codegen__tests__code_gen_tests__array_of_struct_initialization_in_body.snap	Snapshot update for struct array init via .const_init + memcpy.
src/codegen/tests/oop_tests/super_tests.rs	Snapshot/expectation updates due to memcpy-based init for aggregates.
src/codegen/tests/initialization_test/complex_initializers.rs	Snapshot update for aggregate string-array init using .const_init + memcpy.
src/codegen/tests/fnptr.rs	Snapshot update for aggregate return/init path using .const_init + memcpy.
src/codegen/tests/debug_tests.rs	Debug IR snapshot updates for aggregate init now using memcpy.
src/codegen/generators/pou_generator.rs	Skip generating __init globals for external/included POUs.
src/codegen/generators/llvm.rs	Add helper to materialize aggregate constants as private unnamed-addr globals.
src/codegen/generators/expression_generator.rs	Use memcpy from materialized globals for aggregate literals to reduce IR size.
compiler/plc_lowering/src/tests/array_lowering_tests.rs	New unit tests validating array lowering decisions (unroll vs loop, stripping init).
compiler/plc_lowering/src/tests.rs	Register new lowering test module.
compiler/plc_lowering/src/lib.rs	Export new array_lowering module.
compiler/plc_lowering/src/array_lowering.rs	New lowering pass implementation for non-constant array literal initializers.
compiler/plc_driver/src/pipelines/participant.rs	Add pipeline participant integrating array lowering before annotation.
compiler/plc_driver/src/pipelines.rs	Wire the new ArrayLowerer into the default mutable pipeline participants.

---

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

You can also share your feedback on Copilot code review. Take the survey.

[mhasel]

I like it! One bug, the rest of the comments are minor.

[mhasel]

While creating a new module that thinks it owns the pointer and forgetting it later looks to be fine now, there is a risk if inkwell ever adds panic!s or Results to the called functions.

A panic would result in the rust unwinder dropping both the original module and the copy here, resulting in a double free.

A result with an early return would call drop on the local value, invalidating the original module's llvm pointer in the process. I think it is worth to add this to the SAFETY comment above

[ghaith]

yeah this is the one thing i don't like about this change, i'm thinking of moving this into the llvm wrapper and implementing it through C api calls there and getting a reference to the module. Will look into it

[mhasel]

The threshold is checked per MultipliedStatement segment, not against the total element count. An initializer split into multiple sub-threshold segments - e.g. [10(v), 10(v), 10(v), 10(v)] totalling 40 elements - is fully unrolled into 40 individual assignments instead of emitting a FOR loop.

This is not blocking for me, as this is an edge case that is unlikely to happen in real code. I've added a test (multi_segment_above_threshold_is_unrolled_per_segment) to document this behaviour anyway.