Nit note: EPIC is too niche, but so is VLIW. VLIW is taught because the entire approach is about the architectural decision to expose processor state that would normally be controlled by the microprogram in charge of interpreting and timing the macrocode. Effectively, VLIW gives low-level control over to, and depends entire on the intelligence of, the compiler toolchain to correctly manage the processor's internal state. Transmeta Crusoe attempted this, but it was a commercial failure. Soft-updatable microcoded RISC-CISC CPUs and GPUs won.