Presenting machine instructions in a machine-independent tree form suitable for post-link optimizations

A machine-independent representation of computer instructions can serve as a standard for machine instruction description that is suitable for post-link transformation tools, such as post-link optimizers, and for education of users. In one embodiment the instructions are presented as expression trees in a XML file. An optimizer operates on the transformed code representations, after which optimized code is re-transformed into machine-readable code.