perf: separate checker union-find links from node metadata

README.md

@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ name resolution (`@source/sema`) runs after parsing. it predeclares package name
 
 type checking (`@source/sema/check`) runs after name resolution. `check.check` borrows the AST and binding table and returns owned per-node types and interned array descriptors; query with `check.type_of` and `check.array_type`, and release with `check.deinit`. declarations infer their initializer types, including forward references and function aliases; function types identify the declaration supplying the callable signature. annotations support builtin types and fixed arrays; type names are not ordinary values. `void` is valid as a function result, not as a parameter or stored value.
 
+the checker keeps union-find parent links and group sizes in a compact array separate from per-node inference metadata. root walks and path compression access only that link storage; both temporary arrays are released before `check.check` returns.
+
 numeric typing follows contextual rules within Honey's current `int` and `float` families. integer literals can adopt either family; float literals remain float. numeric demands propagate through arithmetic and inferred bindings before undemanded integers default to `int`. conflicting demands are errors; fixed `int` values do not implicitly convert to `float`. `+`, `-`, `*` and unary `-` require compatible numeric operands; `/` requires and supplies float context. `3 / 2`, `3.0 / 2`, and `ratio float :: 3 / 2` are valid; division involving fixed `int` values requires explicit conversion.
 
 type errors carry source spans and diagnostic identities; invalid operands propagate their existing identity without duplicate errors, while independent expressions, arguments and nested bodies are still checked. inference cycles without a type anchor are diagnosed. function signatures are checked independently of their bodies. bare `return` and same-line `return expression` are supported inside function bodies and must match the declared result type. nonvoid return-path checking is structural: every path must return or terminate in a diagnostic trap, and both conditional successors are considered without constant folding. a missing `else` or a loop permits fallthrough, even for a literal `true` condition; a later return can close that path. statements after a return and untaken branches or loops are still type-checked but are not executed.