there are tools that can obfuscate the code, and do it so that the code cannot be easily readable but still be runnable. Execution Just-in-time compilation Just-in-time compilation (JIT) involves turning the byte-code into code immediately executable by the CPU. The conversion is performed gradually during the program's execution. JIT compilation provides environment-specific optimization, runtime type safety, and assembly verification. To accomplish this, the JIT compiler examines the assembly metadata for any illegal accesses and handles violations appropriately. Ahead-of-time compilation CLI-compatible execution environments also come with the option to do an Ahead-of-time compilation (AOT) of an assembly to make it execute faster by removing the JIT process at runtime. In the .NET Framework there is a special tool called the Native Image Generator (NGEN) that performs the AOT. A different approach for AOT is CoreRT that allows the compilation of .Net Core code to a single executable with no dependency on a runtime. In Mono there is also an option to do an AOT. Pointer instructions - C++/CLI A notable difference from Java's bytecode is that CIL comes with ldind, stind, ldloca, and many call instructions which are enough for data/function pointers manipulation needed to compile C/C++ code into CIL. class A { public: virtual void __stdcall meth() {} }; void test_pointer_operations(int param) { int k = 0; int * ptr = &k; *ptr = 1; ptr = &param; *ptr = 2; A a; A * ptra = &a; ptra->meth(); } The corresponding code in CIL can be rendered as this: .method assembly static void modopt([mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallConvCdecl) test_pointer_operations(int32 param) cil managed { .vtentry 1 : 1 // Code size 44 (0x2c) .maxstack 2 .locals ([0] int32* ptr, [1] valuetype A* V_1, [2] valuetype A* a, [3] int32 k) // k = 0; IL_0000: ldc.i4.0 IL_0001: stloc.3 // ptr = &k; IL_0002: ldloca.s k // load local's address instruction IL_0004: stloc.0 // *ptr = 1; IL_0005: ldloc.0 IL_0006: ldc.i4.1 IL_0007: stind.i4 // indirection instruction // ptr = &param IL_0008: ldarga.s param // load parameter's address instruction IL_000a: stloc.0 // *ptr = 2 IL_000b: ldloc.0 IL_000c: ldc.i4.2 IL_000d: stind.i4 // a = new A; IL_000e: ldloca.s a IL_0010: call valuetype A* modopt([mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallConvThiscall) 'A.{ctor}'(valuetype A* modopt([mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.IsConst) modopt([mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.IsConst)) IL_0015: pop // ptra = &a; IL_0016: ldloca.s a IL_0018: stloc.1 // ptra->meth(); IL_0019: ldloc.1 IL_001a: dup IL_001b: ldind.i4 // reading the VMT for virtual call IL_001c: ldind.i4 IL_001d: calli unmanaged stdcall void modopt([mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallConvStdcall)(native int) IL_0022: ret