[COFF] Re: machine code translation, as mental architecture models

Back to topic of machine code translation, I stumbled over this paper describing DEC's migration from VAX (VMS) or MIPS (Ultrix) to Alpha (VMS or OSF/1, respectively) for user-mode applications.  The paper states that this included hand-coded assembly language applications. https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs343/resources/binary-translation.pdf