memory-safe language does not imply the use of a VM.
It can just as well mean, that the compiler will attempt to execute a proof, that memory is never accessed out of bounds, without well defined ownership and within the lifetime of the underlying object. Which is what Rust does, for example.
Of course it can also mean, that the compiler will then additionally add internal failure checks and safeguards at critical places (Rust does not do this, but it would be nice to have in systems where one might worry about in-register bit-flips (high radiation environments, like X-ray scanners), i.e. stuff not caught by – say – e.g. ECC memory).
It can just as well mean, that the compiler will attempt to execute a proof, that memory is never accessed out of bounds, without well defined ownership and within the lifetime of the underlying object. Which is what Rust does, for example.
Of course it can also mean, that the compiler will then additionally add internal failure checks and safeguards at critical places (Rust does not do this, but it would be nice to have in systems where one might worry about in-register bit-flips (high radiation environments, like X-ray scanners), i.e. stuff not caught by – say – e.g. ECC memory).