In my mind, I, perhaps wrongly, equate compiled with - "runs machine code". Java is considered compiled but runs on the JVM. Python also has compilation as one

In my mind, I, perhaps wrongly, equate compiled with - "runs machine code". Java is considered compiled but runs on the JVM. Python also has compilation as one of the steps and runs in its virtual machine yet it is considered interpreted. Sooo... Where do you draw the line? Regarding your main point, I agree, compiled languages do not necessarily have complicated build setups. But maybe it is tainted by my experience in this field.