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From: kgg@lfcs.edinburgh.ac.uk (Kees Goossens)
Newsgroups: comp.compilers
Subject: Re: Choosing software VM instruction sets
Keywords: interpreter, design, Ten15
Message-ID: <91-05-109@comp.compilers>
Date: 29 May 91 09:33:38 GMT
References: <91-05-103@comp.compilers>
Sender: compilers-sender@iecc.cambridge.ma.us
Reply-To: Kees Goossens <kgg@lfcs.edinburgh.ac.uk>
Organization: The Lavatory for the Foundations of Computer Science
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Approved: compilers@iecc.cambridge.ma.us

In article <91-05-103@comp.compilers> mabel!landers@uunet.uu.net writes:
>I'm interested in finding references about the design of instruction sets for
>software based virtual machines.  ...

You may want to have a look at a very high level abstract machine called
Ten15. A number of languages can be compiled onto it, and it runs on a few
different real machines, if I remember correctly. Maybe someone else can
expand on this; it's been a while since I read the article:

@InBook(Foster89a,
	Keywords="ten15, formally defined abstract machine, high level
	compiler target, hoare logic style semantics, has closures as
	basic type.",
	Author="J M Foster",
	Title="The Algebraic Specification of a Target Machine: {T}en15",
	Chapter="9",
	Pages="198--225",
	Publisher="Pitman",
	Address="London",
	Series="Computer Systems Series",
	Year="1989")

Kees Goossens
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