And have the .md files refer people to the Simulator paper for an overview of

core VM development.

Author: eliotmiranda

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ the VM itself, please use their forums:
 * http://squeak.org/community/
 * http://newspeaklanguage.org
 
+Second, the core VM, which is the execution engine and garbage collector, the
+core plugins, are developed in Smalltalk, using the VM Simulator.  This
+repository contains the code generated by the Simulator, and platform support
+code for the entire VM, its CI infrastructure and so on.  The core VM **should
+not** be developed by editing the generated code.  The core VM should be
+developed using Smalltalk.  You can read about the Simulator here:
+* https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328509577_Two_Decades_of_Smalltalk_VM_Development_Live_VM_Development_through_Simulation_Tools
+* https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01883380/document
+
 The development of the Cog virtual machine takes place on the *Cog*
 branch. External contributors have to submit pull requests for review. Core
 contributors will generally work on the Cog branch by pushing to it

README.md

@@ -58,6 +58,15 @@ the VM itself, please use their forums:
 * http://squeak.org/community/
 * http://newspeaklanguage.org
 
+Second, the core VM, which is the execution engine and garbage collector, the
+core plugins, are developed in Smalltalk, using the VM Simulator.  This
+repository contains the code generated by the Simulator, and platform support
+code for the entire VM, its CI infrastructure and so on.  The core VM **should
+not** be developed by editing the generated code.  The core VM should be
+developed using Smalltalk.  You can read about the Simulator here:
+* https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328509577_Two_Decades_of_Smalltalk_VM_Development_Live_VM_Development_through_Simulation_Tools
+* https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01883380/document
+
 Cog is an evolution of the Squeak Back-to-the-future Smalltalk virtual machine
 that provides a number of different Smalltalk virtual machines.  The VMs are
 developed in Smalltalk, using all the dynamic and reflective facilities of the