> But the tendency of compiler people to refuse to take the idea seriously, even for a second, just seems odd.
It's not taken seriously because it shouldn't be taken seriously. It's a profoundly ignorant idea that's entirely delusional about reality. Architectures differ in ways that are much more profound than how parameters go on the stack or what arguments instructions take. As a matter of fact the C standard bends over backwards in the attempt of not specifying a memory model.
Any language that takes itself seriously is defined in terms of its abstract machine. The only alternative is the Perl way: "the interpreter is the specification", and I don't see how that's any better.
It's not taken seriously because it shouldn't be taken seriously. It's a profoundly ignorant idea that's entirely delusional about reality. Architectures differ in ways that are much more profound than how parameters go on the stack or what arguments instructions take. As a matter of fact the C standard bends over backwards in the attempt of not specifying a memory model.
Any language that takes itself seriously is defined in terms of its abstract machine. The only alternative is the Perl way: "the interpreter is the specification", and I don't see how that's any better.