A digital system and method of operation is which the digital system has a processor with a virtual machine environment for interpretively executing instructions. First, a sequence of instructions is received (404) for execution by the virtual machine. The sequence of instructions is examined (408 414) to determine if a certain type of iterative sequence is present. If the certain type of iterative sequence is present, the iterative sequence is replaced (412) with a proprietary code sequence. After the modifications are complete, the modified sequence is executed in a manner that a portion of the sequence of instructions is executed in an interpretive manner (418); and the proprietary code sequences are executed directly by acceleration circuitry (420).