Programs are represented as one-dimensional byte arrays while they are being executed, too, as are all other data structures stored in an address space. I don't

Programs are represented as one-dimensional byte arrays while they are being executed, too, as are all other data structures stored in an address space. I don't see why complex data structures flattened into a linear space via syntax structures should be any less legitimate than complex data structures flattened into a linear address space via pointers.