Probably the most difficult area in the CL standard is handling pathnames. There are so many possible pitfalls. FFI is an area that, despite best efforts, is li

Probably the most difficult area in the CL standard is handling pathnames. There are so many possible pitfalls. FFI is an area that, despite best efforts, is likely not a good candidate for inclusion in a standard. It would be better to have all of the implementations converge on a convention since the underlying foreign systems will change over time. Not everything that "just works" has to be in a standard. C++ issues a "new standard" every 3 years or so which is just nonsense. Even Stroustrop said that the "new C++" is not the "old C++". They are adding ideas (e.g. Concepts) that virtually no one is asking for or knows how to use. Ten years from now that C++ maintenance job you have will be a nightmare. PL/I tried to be everything to everyone for every task and eventually disappeared. C++ is on the same long-term death march. You heard it here first.