Reference Counting and Tail Calls

One thing I thought about today is reference counting in combination with tail calls. Imagine a function like this:

function f(x) { return g(x+1); }

Now consider that x is a reference counted object and that x + 1 creates a new object. The call to g(x + 1) shall be in tail call position.

In most reference counted languages, the reference to an argument is owned by the caller. That is, f() owns the reference to x + 1. In that case, the call to g() would no longer be in a tail call position, as we still have to decrease the reference count after g() exits.

An alternative would be that the callee owns the reference. This however, will most likely create far more reference count changes than a caller-owns language (increase reference count in caller, decrease reference count in callee). For example, the following function requires an increment before the call to g().

function f1(x) { return g(x); }

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve the problem of tail calls while avoiding the callee-owns scenario? Something that does not require a (non-reference-counting) garbage collector would be preferably.