Well, you don't have to generate raw C code and deal with all the compilers. It might be possible if your language doesn't have machine types, but if it does yo

Well, you don't have to generate raw C code and deal with all the compilers. It might be possible if your language doesn't have machine types, but if it does you have to do what C software usually does: test the compiler for various things and generate a header to rely on. Maybe even supply a ./configure script.