Possible to write compiler to Java VM? (I volunteer to summarize)

Hello. I posted asking this question a few days ago in comp.lang.misc
(thinking that the right forum for general discussions of computer
languages.) Well, no dice. Yet there have been several separate
threads on this question (usually focusing on one language or another)
in comp.lang.java and, I hear, in other c.l.* groups.


So I'm asking you all: how easy/hard/impossible would it be to write a
compiler for your favorite language(s) that compiles to Java VM
byte-codes. If you don't happen to know much about the Java VM but can
tell me about what it would take to write a compiler to some sort of
VM and what features of a VM are necessary and what features might
make it hard or impossible I'll try to put two and two together (after
I finish reading the Java VM spec) myself.


I promise to put together a summary of your responses. And I'm not
adverse to getting technical or theoretical (as in theoretical
Comp. Sci.) if someone want to take the time to explain things to
me. In fact I'm partly volunteering to do this because I expect I'll
learn a lot.


Thanks in advance.


Awaiting your replies,
Peter


--
Peter Seibel seibel@mojones.com
Writer/Perl Hacker 510-482-9105
--

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