Gentlefolk: Help. I need support for a technical argument: why going to an intermediate form for an existing functional back end like Haskell really, truly is better for implementing a functional language than is going to an intermediate form like the Java intermediate form and re-doing all the various specialized mechanism needed to support a true lazy functional language. In other words, I need a pithy paper or book chapter that will convince someone unfamiliar with functional languages that Functional Back Ends Really Are Different --- no, Really Truly Different. Something on the order of Why Functional Programming Matters, but for the implementor of the language, not the programmer. Any pointers to a good article or book chapter that might help? I keep saying that this bookkeeping is a BIG task, but they keep saying they know they can "handle" it. Pithy comments? Staff year estimates? Horror stories? Thanks, anyone. Dave Barton