Tail call optimization in JVM

Question

Scala in particular doesn't support tail-call elimination except in self-recursive functions, which limits the kinds of composition you can do (this is a fundamental limitation of the JVM).

Which functionality of JVM specifies the fundamental limitation in Java? Please help.

Answer 1

The tail call optimization in JVM is difficult to perform because of the security model and the need for stack trace availability. These requirements can be supported by JVM(though in theory), but it would probably require a new bytecode.