UCSD Pascal used the p-machine to be machine/architecture independent. All the way back in 1978. [edit: a quick google suggests the p-machine was based on ori

UCSD Pascal used the p-machine to be machine/architecture independent. All the way back in 1978. [edit: a quick google suggests the p-machine was based on original work circa. 1966] While not the JVM, using a virtual processor setup as a target for portability was a really old concept by the time Java or the .NET CLR came along. Newer approaches add new concepts or take advantage of new technologies, but it's never revolutionary.