How about using a hybrid implementation for `int`. For example, on 64-bit platform, if (a integer >=-9223372036854775808 and <=9223372036854775807), use a native `signed long` to represent it. People mostly use +-* operations, maybe using native int is faster, even including the cost of overflow checking. If operation will overflow or other operation like **, we can transform native int to current form and run in current code path.