Post the str->24B lifts, cgassign had SEPARATE str and slice arms emitting byte-identical 3-word {ptr,len,cap} code. Collapse each identical pair into ONE kind-gated arm (rule 12, sea-of-stars; removes a drift hazard) -- the structural str==[]u8 unification, byte-id-NEUTRAL (each stage's emission unchanged for both str and slice inputs). Pairs: field store s.f=v + ident reassign name=v. cstage gates on the EXACT predicate union (raw kind==TY_STR OR'd with TY_SLICE -- NOT type_isstr, which would also match TY_UNTYPED_STR); ww on isstrtype||isslicetype and letvarisstr||letvarisslice (ww local field/reassign were already merged). Mirrors the in-tree deep-value-chain precedent (cstage 3274). str-only arms with no slice pair (arr[i].field=/chained, G1/G2) untouched.
Verified per-stage PRE==POST byte-identical (focused 5-path fixture + 4 large real combined.ww inputs, both stages); the 5 pairs were byte-identical pre-merge. main.combined.ww regenerated via the canonical make path (md5-stable). A pre-existing global-slice-field-store divergence (g.sl=b: cstage 3-word, wwstage 1-word) surfaced during review -- filed (#26/#10), NOT a C4.4 concern (PRE==POST).
Hojun-Cho
7bb40d924f