Reducing instrumentation code bloat and performance overheads using a runtime call instruction

A method, comprising:

• fetching an instruction having a field for a first opcode, the first opcode indicating a runtime call operation;
• decoding the instruction according to the first opcode;
• scheduling execution of the instruction;
• and
• executing the decoded instruction to:
• execute a “no operation” in response to a runtime call destination being equal to a predetermined value;
• and
• execute an indirect call with the runtime call destination as a destination address in response to the runtime call destination not being equal the predetermined value.

A system, comprising:

• a memory to store a runtime call instruction;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, the processor to execute the runtime call instruction to execute a “no operation” when a runtime call destination equals a predetermined value;
• and execute an indirect call with the runtime call destination as a destination address when the runtime call destination does not equal the predetermined value.