I did a MAL implementation too, and am currently working on an LLVM compiler, but dear god I'd never frame it as "spent x years learning to make a compiler".

MAL is easy, and straightforward - I'm not saying this to devalue your work (great job!) but to point out that the language is by design simple to implement and doesn't require any prior knowledge of how an interpreter works. People who want to write their own implementation should try that right now, and definitely not be scared off by "I spent 10 years working on this". Turning that interpeter into a compiler is an extra step on top.