> Less memory footprint. No reliance on libs.

rust can do that. You can run a hyper stripped down rust that was made for embedded devices specifically because those devices don't have room for a runtime.

I'm sure I can. The original challenge was more in line of "I wonder if CC can do this now?"

And it apparently can. And very well.

One advantage seems to be that the complete asm file fits easily into CC context window.