I never programmed the MC68000, [...]
Clearly.
I read about the MC68000 but it didn't seem interesting.

In Forth it is common to keep the top element of the data-stack (the TOS in Forth terminology) in a register. On the i8086 this register was typically BX.

The MC68000 has a distinction ...

BCPL is a high level "algol-like" language that was designed round about 1966. It's very well established, but also almost completely moribund, however the original compiler is still being developed by the original creator and he released a new version just last year. It can output various forms ...

I'll likely write a W65c816 byte-code VM eventually, but if anybody wants to take a stab at that, go ahead. Keep the above tips in mind. You can't use a legacy W65c816 assembler because it packs the code, but it should be easy enough to modify a legacy W65c816 assembler to insert zeros into the ...

So your CPU sounds interesting - but would I then get it to emulate a 65816? No. I'd work on making it emulate the BCPL bytecode directly - cut out the middleman as it were... My RISC-V implementation doesn't use any RAM for the state of the VM/Bytecode - it's all held in registers. This makes it ...

Nobody has ever indicated any practical use for the bloated monster

Now you've lost me... RISC-V is designed to be simple and easy to understand with optional extensions to increase functionality if desired.. It's pretty much the opposite of bloated as you only include what you need.
Moat ...

...why are you bothering with it at all? Just pick a nice CPU that's well known and understood, doesn't have the 64K bank shenanigans and use that instead. I can recommend RISC-V having worked with it recently - it's a joy to use. Several C compilers and easy to code for in assembly and FreeRTOS ...

A relatively major problem, I think, is the number of corner cases in the '816 behaviour...

What is a "corner case" in the '816 behavior?

The weirdest thing about the '816 was that it had 8-bit and 16-bit mode. If you disassemble the code you don't know what it does without knowing if the ...

The W65c816 is a good target for a byte-code VM because all of the opcodes are one-byte, as compared to the more popular MC6811 and MC6809 that have multi-byte opcodes.
I wouldn't let the CPUs underlying opcodes be a reason for/against running a bytecode VM on it, however ...

I have a bytecode ...

Is there a C compiler for the W65c816?

WDC has a C compiler, but their website (https://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/tools.php) says:
WDCTools are provided for use in development of products that feature 65xx processors from WDC and its licensees. They are NOT for reverse engineering of our ...

"Most computer applications boil down to searching and sorting."
"I believe that virtually every important aspect of programming arises somewhere in the context of sorting or searching!" (Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 3, "Sorting and Searching")
It's worth noting that ...

Could it be that Dr. Koopman meant doVAR instead of VARIABLE ? Or am I confirming my ignorance by asking such a question?

You are most likely correct --- he meant doVAR and doCON which are run-time. I agree.

Most compiler-writers focus on getting benchmark programs, such as ye olde Sieve, to ...

Most "programmers" are actually script-kiddies --- their primary skill is to quickly "get up to speed" on some software
I've been a programmer since I was 9 (~36 years). Over 20 of those have been professional (paid). So it's a good thing I have a thick skin or I could have been offended by that ...

The only time I used Pascal was on a CDC Cyber mainframe about 34 years ago, with time-share terminals. I remember that it said "ZURICH" in the header, was single-pass and upper-case only, and the printouts arrived some time after the jobs were batched on 17-inch-wide tractor feed paper, but I don ...

BTW: William Mensch may have been thinking about Pascal rather than C. If so, then he was thinking about a crippled Pascal that lacks nested functions --- there is no register available for a local-frame pointer --- there were several such crippled Pascals in the 1980s, most notably Borland Turbo ...

Could it be that Dr. Koopman meant doVAR instead of VARIABLE ? Or am I confirming my ignorance by asking such a question?

You are most likely correct --- he meant doVAR and doCON which are run-time.

I still don't put much stock into lists such as this --- they tend to hide a lot of assumptions ...